We all want a loving and healthy marriage. When marriages are unhealthy, they can be unhealthy in many ways. One of the most common ways a marriage can be unhealthy is financially. As we seek to have financial peace and journey towards financial freedom, we have to make sure to keep our marriages in mind.
It is so important through your journey and once you achieve your goal, that you also focus on the strength and health of your marriage. There are five keys to having a financially healthy marriage.
1) You Both Agree And Believe In Stewardship
A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.
John 3:27b (NKJV)
God blesses us with all we have, including our marriages and our money. So it is important to not only remember that, but to treat them as such. When you take his and mine out of your finances, you then can focus on managing what God has blessed you both with together.
You also can remove the weight and the pressure you may have placed on yourself regarding your finances and while working together to steward your blessings.
2) Complete Transparency
Keeping secrets in your marriage about your finances is never okay. In order for you to work together to not only steward your finances, but to reach your goal of financial freedom you have to be transparent when it comes to your finances.
One of the most common reasons I have found that many married couples are not completely transparent in regards to their finances is because they are scared of what their spouse might say when they find out the truth. Yet like 1 John 4:18 says ‘There is no fear in love.’
We should trust our husbands with the truth about our debt, spending, savings, or whatever. You cannot work together on something that you are both not aware is there.
3) You Have Agreed Upon Budget
The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.
Proverbs 21:20 (NLT)
Having a budget allows you to make sure you are covering all your needs and see how many of your wants you can be covered as well. For a lot of people, having a budget can feel restrictive, yet I believe that this is far from the truth. It gives you the freedom to work within your own preset financial boundaries, while also working towards your financial freedom.
4) You Set Financial Goals Together
Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?
Amos 3:3 (NLT)
Setting financial goals together is so important because it helps to ensure you are working towards the same things together. One of your goals for this year may be to save up for a new washer and dryer because the one you have is just not cutting it anymore.
One of your husband’s goals for this year may be to save up for a new snowblower because he is getting tired of shoveling the entire driveway by hand. Yet, what happens when you finally save up enough money, but you never talked to each other about your goals and you can only get one? Or what happens when one of you believes you should be focused on paying down your student loans, while the other thinks you should pay off your car loan first.
By setting your financial goals together, you can both agree on what your goals are and how you are going to work towards them.
5) Grace
From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.
John 1:16 (NLT)
Along our journeys to financial freedom, we will all make a mistake along the way. You will spend more than you budgeted on groceries one month. Your husband will forget to tell you he used his debit card last week for lunch. The list can go on and on.
There have been many days when Eric will send me a text saying our bank just sent him a message about our account being overdrawn. This is usually a result of me forgetting to transfer enough money into our checking to cover something.
Yet instead of him getting upset with me or me upset with myself, I reply “Sorry babe, I’ll go fix it now ?” and I go online to see where the mess up occurred. We must always remember that we are only human and to give each other grace. You are both on the same team working towards the same goals.
Through your journey to financial freedom and once you achieve it, it is important to also focus on the strength and health of your marriage. These five keys will not only help you to have a financially healthy marriage, but also maintain it.
I’d love to hear if there are any keys you would add to having a financially healthy marriage in the comments!
Couldn’t agree more, Ayanna. Having goals, budgeting, stewardship are all so important to make both the marriage and household flow. Still working on #5 but I’ll get there 😉
You are so not alone, Amy. I know I’m working on #5 every day in so many different ways. ? There are days when I’m like “Ok, I can handle this” and there are day when I’m like “Jesus take the wheel”.
These are all great tips, transparency is so important. My husband and I struggled with it for about a year, thankfully we are back on track
That’s awesome, Bonnie, that you and your hubby are back on track. Transparency, especially in regards to money, can be hard for a lot of us. With open communication and a lot of grace, transparency becomes easier, but is definitely not easy.
These are amazing tips for every couple. Money can be such a hot topic in a marriage. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Stephanie. Managing money in marriage well is so important to the success and health of so many of our marriages. All couples, including myself, can always use new ways and tips to help make our marriages better, especially in how we manage our finances.
I love your marriage and finance posts! So much wisdom and great tips.
Yes!! Communication and a budget makes a big difference in our lives. Really great tips.
solid advice on money communication. So crucial for couples to just be open and on the same page as far as GOALS!
I absolutely love that you have bible quotes for each tip!
I have been needing something like this lately. I love the worksheet, so awesome!!
Being on one accord is imperative in this area, and transparency too!! Lack of communication or honesty here can cause major problems!!
These are such great tips! With my husband and I, we’re newly weds, we have a system that we like to keep to when it comes to finances. We haven’t figured it out completely, but keeping a monthly budget is a must!
Sincerely Miss J
This is a great post and very straight forward. Money is something no couple wants to deal with but unfortunately you have to!! Thanks for the great post, just sent it to my husband!
Thanks so much, Leah, and I hope your husband enjoys it as well. I hope it can help you both get to the point were having money talks are easy. It has definitely taken us a long time to get to the point where talking about money is no problem. It takes a lot of work and effort on both your parts, but it is so worth it. ?
It is so hard to be completely transparent sometimes. UGH!
Wow. We certainly don’t do all of these. Wise words! I always learn so much here!
My husband and I are redoing our budget as we speak. It is always a struggle but something we both strive to be open and honest about. Great post, thanks for all your tips!