Stress Free Ways for Couples to Merge Finances Without Going Insane 

The excitement and anxiety affiliated with marriage is the result of two lives merging into one. Taking this step reveals the seriousness of your relationship. In the many conversations that made you fall in love with each other, you probably have talked about career goals, whether or not to start a family, and other joint goals. However, you should also consider, and begin to discuss, merging finances. While merging finances may appear a stressful task, you and your significant other can achieve this necessary step without going insane by following several guidelines.

Merging your finances does not mean that you have to hand over each paycheck to your partner. Instead, you can create a joint account that can be used for joint bills only. This account can be used to pay the rent, cable, electric, and similar bills. This way, you can keep money back to pay your student loans, take a vacation, or save for retirement without burdening your partner or future spouse.

You should have a frank and candid conversation with your significant other about your financial priorities. If you are a saver and he is a spender, you may want to take control of the finances to make sure that the bills get paid and prevent any unnecessary purchases.

You may also agree that your partner can keep a percentage of his paycheck to pay for fishing trips, video games, or other forms of entertainment, allows for continued independence within the bounds of the merge. At the same time, you should be able to hold back a percentage of your income to pay for shoes, clothes, or other interests.

If you are the spender and he is a saver, you could agree that a certain percentage of each paycheck goes to a joint saving account that can only be used for limited reasons. For instance, you could reserve the savings account to pay for the wedding or a down payment on a new house.

There is a chance that you and your partner have different jobs with differing incomes. Whether one of you makes $100,000 a year while another makes minimum wage, there are ways to split the bills in an equitable manner.

The person who makes the higher income may decide to pay the larger household bills while the other person buys for smaller things such as groceries or vacation. You may also decide to alternate which person pays a specific bill each month. One month, you may pay the rent while your partner pays the electric bill and vice-versa the next month.

This method can work regardless of your or your partner’s income because you will have two months to come up with that payment, which means you have extra time to save and plan for it. It works equally as successfully if you and your partner make the same amount each month and are both trying to juggle personal and joint bills.

By determining which bills each person is responsible and when, there is no stress and no fighting over who owes what and when. Instead, each person simply pays the bills when they are due and moves on to the next month.

The easiest way to merge finances without getting too stressed is to not dwell too much on the actual money. As long as your partner is holding up his end of the bargain and puts in effort to pay his portion of the joint bills, it isn’t worth stressing about. Most couples will go through times when they struggle with finances no matter how much they make or who is responsible for paying what bill. In order to prevent future stress, both strive to save a portion of your income and take steps to keep your debts to a minimum.

The most aspect about your relationship should be the love that binds you together. If you are with someone just for money or because of other perceived perks, the relationship will be based on a weak foundation, and you will not be as happy. By focusing on the person as opposed to the bottom line, you can work through any financial issues that arise.

Merging finances with your partner does not have to be stressful. Even when paying joint bills, you can still keep a separate bank account to fund your own discretionary purchases with the money that you have earned. Remember, the key to successful money management is good communication to ensure that you and your partner are working toward the same general goals.