The Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evils. It does not mention that money troubles are the root of many marriage problems, but this is certainly true.
This is not about being broke. I know couples with nothing who are happily married. I also know rich couples who are miserable.
Money problems cause stress, and that’s hard on your marriage. But that stress alone won’t harm your marriage significantly, and it certainly won’t lead to a divorce.
The real issue is being on the same page. This means you both understand your finances, but there’s more to it. If you’re broke because of a choice one of you made unilaterally, that’s going to hurt your marriage. If one of you is a spender and the other a saver, that will be a source of friction. Fights about how to spend your disposable income causes problems no matter how big or small that amount may be.
If you both agree you’re going to live very simply, it won’t be a problem. If you both want to be outrageous givers, that actually pulls you together. Agreement is the magic here.
Lori and I highly recommend Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class. If you’ve never done it, please do. If it’s been a decade, please do it again. You may not agree with Dave 100%, but if you do the class together you will learn where your differences are, and you will gain the tools to making a path forward that works for both of you. It will put you on the same page, and that will be very good for your marriage.
~ This is Paul, reminding you that Doing Finances Well looks different for every couple.
We’ve been getting a lot of rain.
This view sometimes gives us a great rainbow, but today just clouds.
Image Credit: © Paul H Byerly created with ideogram.ai & Paul Byerly
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