photo by dawnzy

Financially speaking “money talk” can be a delicate subject to mention in your marriage .     

Back in the “olden days” young ladies would live with their family right up until getting married.  Then the newlyweds would have one checking account and one savings account.  End of story.

Well now as you know – things are much different!  Young women leave their parents household and have a career, get apartments and may have numerous on-line bank accounts and 401K investments – all before getting married!

So the husband and wife, who are used to having their own bank account, might have trouble with the concept of traditional joint accounts.  Derek & I tried traditional – it didn’t work for us.  With having a mortgage, multiple household bills and large family grocery bill I felt it was too hard to figure out what extra money I had leftover to treat myself to something.

So now we have Mine, Yours and Ours bank accounts.  We both have a checking account for miscellaneous items, we have a household checking account for bills, and a household savings account as a nest egg.  With all the on-line banking options it’s easy to move money around and even give personalized names like Wendy’s checking.  

So what about that nest egg?  If you don’t do this now – you need to start.  Pay Yourself First – before your bills!  Your goal is to have a 6 – 8 month nest egg for emergencies.  So calculate what your monthly expenses are, multiply by 6 or 8 and that is your nest egg goal.  It seems like a big number – right?  Well it is, and it might take a while to save that much, but these days if someone loses a job it might take 6 – 8 months before finding a new one! 

How do you pay yourself first?  Here are a few ideas:

• The first time you get a pay raise or bonus, take that extra amount and put it right into savings.  If you’ve lived without it before, you can continue without it.  
• When you finish paying off a car loan, take that same amount and put it in savings.  Again if you’ve lived without it before, you can continue without it.  

If neither scenario is in your immediate future – don’t worry – they will come.  In the meanwhile take a look at your monthly expenses.  Look for non-essential items, fancy coffees at the café, fast-food lunches, and shopping splurges.  Cut back or stop those and put that extra money into savings.

Trust me it Pays to Pay Yourself First!  Sooner than later your nest egg will be complete and you’ll have extra splurge money for vacations, fancy dinners and shopping sprees!

- Wendy

Helping you achieve your Domestic Success!