Ok, so you want to make good money choices as a couple. That’s grrrrrrreat. Let’s look at some quick ways to lower your money stress and consequently begin changing behavior as a couple and move forward!

1. It takes a team.
   Look at money as a vehicle. You can either invite your spouse to take a drive together, or you can leave them behind as you race off to achieve YOUR goals. Let me be clear. You will not win in your marriage if you do not also marry your dreams, goals, and decisions together as well. As a results, you need to talk about all those “MY GOALS” you have and make them “WE GOALS”. Most of all, don’t get lost in the cliche of this lesson and miss the invaluable truth that will penetrate your life for good!
2. Unexpected Expenses Are Expected.
   So have you Ever had your car blow a tire and it mess up the rest of your week? You have to pay for someone to both come help you and for the repair. Before you know it there goes $500.  It’s Tuesday and you and your spouse had plans to go to dinner with Luke and Chelsea but it seems like you can’t anymore because you just dropped 500 Big Ones on that stupid car. There goes dinner money.
   Planning ahead for this stuff makes life so much more fun You see, we have separate “funds” in our budget for things like car repairs, date night, etc. So when our car has an expense it doesn’t affect our date night fund because they’re separate! Seems like a dream, but its achievable.
   How do I start that, you ask? Start this month by calculating how much you think you’ll spend in a year on unexpected/irregular expenses (i.e. car repairs, gifts, new iPhone, etc). Then divide that total by 12 to get your monthly saving goal. A Future Post will go in more detail with this.
3. Cash Cow. 
   It’s pretty hard to over spend and go negative with cash right? So pick 2 categories (e.i. food, date night, clothes) to commit to being 100% cash for 90 days and see how it changes your spending behavior!

In conclusion, be sure to use EveryDollar.com for your budget! It’s what we use!