Working Together Requires Diligence

As a married couple with different schedules, different habits, different priorities and responsibilities it can be very difficult to come together on the things that should be shared such as the family schedule, habits, priorities, responsibilities.  I know my wife and I experience this when it comes to doing our finances together.

When we made our financial turnaround and became serious about working together we did everything together – planned the budget, paid the bills, reconciled accounts, etc.  It wasn’t easy and there was conflict between us during the process.  But we did it anyway because it was the only way we could learn to make it work.  It would have been very easy for frustration to overcome us and cause us to go back to the old way, which was doing our own thing and wondering why it wasn’t working overall.

After a while of working on everything so diligently we didn’t have to do every single activity together any more.  Over time Shawna gained confidence that I was going to allow fun in the budget (because I’m the saver) and I became confident that Shawna was going to do everything she could to control the discretionary categories like groceries, dining out, clothing, and entertainment (because she’s the spender).  We still talk about the day-to-day money management but I do most of the details because it is more of my strong suit.  Now the only time we actually sit down to work through something together is when a new decision has to be made or a new concern has come up, or even better, when a milestone is being reached.

Shawna and I are about to sit down and do something financial together that we’ve been waiting for a very long time…

How is WORKING TOGETHER on the finances going in your marriage?  Don’t get frustrated and give up.  It takes time and diligence to get it.

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