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Marriage changes many things. Suddenly, someone else’s groceries are your groceries. Their Amazon cart is your shared impulse buy. And their debt? Yep, that just got cozier, too. If love is blind, money has 20/20 vision—and it’s time for you two to put on your glasses. Think of this less as financial advice and more as a toolkit for avoiding the kind of money-related spats that leave one of you sleeping on the couch (even if you both paid for it).
Set the Table with a Real Conversation
The most underrated financial move a newly married couple can make is a heart-to-heart that doesn’t end in passive-aggressive sighs. You need to know what you’re bringing into the marriage—student loans, credit card balances, inherited wealth, maybe even a secret sneaker collection that costs more than your honeymoon. Lay it all out like mismatched Tupperware. Transparency breeds trust, and trust makes budgeting a whole lot easier.
Merge Accounts or Maintain Autonomy
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for blending finances. Some couples throw everything into a joint account and call it a day. Others prefer the “yours, mine, and ours” model, keeping individual accounts and creating a shared one for bills and savings goals. The key here is not the method but the mutual agreement. If one of you is a spreadsheet-loving saver and the other treats money like it’s made of melting ice cream, you’ll need clear boundaries. Think of it as financial feng shui—whatever creates balance.
Boosting Income with Continued Education
You don’t need to be fresh out of college to invest in your long-term earning power. Returning to school for an advanced degree can be a strategic move that opens doors to better-paying roles and more stable career paths. A business degree, in particular, equips you with marketable accounting, business, communications, or management skills that make you a more valuable hire across industries (this is a good option). And thanks to the flexibility of online programs, you can continue working while you earn your degree, building experience and income simultaneously.
Write a Budget That Doesn’t Feel Like a Grounding
People treat budgets like diets—they either avoid them or weaponize them. But a reasonable budget isn’t punishment. It’s a permission slip to spend with clarity. You’re not trying to restrict each other, you’re trying to say: “This is how we take care of our life together.” Track your monthly income, note all the fixed expenses, and then agree on what you want to spend. Maybe it’s a standing Friday sushi night, maybe it’s saving for a fixer-upper. The point is that a budget should reflect your personalities, not just those who love Excel.
Set Up a Fun Fund and a No-Judgment Jar
Let’s get something straight: you’re still individuals. That means you both need to spend money on personal expenses that don’t require a Supreme Court ruling. Set up what I like to call the “fun fund.” It’s a monthly allowance for each of you—no questions, no commentary. So be it if you want to blow yours on artisanal candles or fantasy football. This little practice? It preserves your autonomy and prevents low-level resentment from snowballing into bigger battles.
Tackle Debt Like a Team Sport
If either (or both) of you have debt, now’s the time to stop pretending it’ll sort itself out. Create a repayment strategy that feels manageable and fair. Maybe one of you earns more and can throw extra toward those monthly payments; perhaps you refinance or consolidate. Whatever the plan, ensure you’re not slipping into a dynamic where one partner feels like the responsible parent and the other the rebellious teen. You’re teammates. You win when you both cross the finish line.
Plan for the Bad Stuff Before It Hits
Life throws curveballs, and financial curveballs hurt the most when you’re unprepared. Build an emergency fund—three to six months of expenses is the gold standard, but any amount is better than none. Get health insurance, disability insurance, renter’s or homeowner’s insurance, and life insurance if you’ve got kids on the horizon. These aren’t romantic conversations, but they’re the ones that make sure you’re not Googling “how to sell a kidney legally” at 2 a.m.
Save Now for Later Without Losing Today
Retirement feels distant until it’s not. But even if you’re both in your thirties or younger, now’s the time to get those 401(k)s or IRAs in order. Match those employer contributions if you’ve got them. Diversify where you can. And don’t forget about medium-term goals—travel, buying a home, or starting a business. Financial planning doesn’t mean putting life on pause. It means designing a future that fits both of your dreams.
Avoid Lifestyle Creep Like It’s a Scam Email
Once those dual incomes start rolling in, it’s tempting to start “rewarding” yourselves—that new apartment with the rooftop view, the upgraded car, the spontaneous weekends away. But lifestyle inflation can drain your potential faster than any splurge. Keep your fixed costs reasonable and your lifestyle slightly below your means. That way, you’re ready when real opportunities—or emergencies—show up. Flexibility is freedom.
Money is more than numbers. It’s about values, priorities, and the daily choices that make up a life together. Don’t aim for perfection. Aim for respect, consistency, and the occasional financial date night—yes, that’s a thing, and yes, it can involve wine. Your bank accounts may be numbers-driven, but your financial life is about communication and collaboration. Like the best marriages, it works when you both show up with honesty and a shared sense of purpose.
Don’t Forget Wills, Insurance, Insurance Beneficiaries, and Health Directives
Now that you have legally and emotionally bonded, it’s time to become an adult and address the unpleasant reality that life is not linear and that everyone will stay healthy and free of disease and accidents. That’s where wills, insurance, and specifying insurance beneficiaries become very important. In the event one of you becomes incapacitated, how do you want to be treated if you cannot make your own decisions after an accident or disease? Do you want to be put on life support or not? Similarly, ensure you have updated and specified your insurance beneficiaries in the event of your death. Beneficiaries can not be changed after you die, so make sure these are finalized before anything happens.
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