Money Matters
haleysmay
member
Dear Community,
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Newlywed Financial Plans: HELP
My fiancé and I are getting married in 8 months. We have now purchased a home together and combined our finances. I am trying to figure out a way to put us on a budget. Does anyone have any books, sites or plans you recommend? I thought about the Dave Ramsey plan because I know I do better with cash. Any recommendations?
Re: Newlywed Financial Plans: HELP
We first sat down and wrote down both of our incomes, then all of our fixed bills.
Then we put them into an excel spreadsheet (just Googled a free budget template). We looked at our bank statements from the previous month and plugged in the numbers into the appropriate categories. This gave us a rough budget to work with, and made us realize how much we really spend in certain places.
You can read through Dave Ramsey's book, or David Bach has a good one out for couples. We have not read either one, but make it a point to sit down and discuss our budget and finances once a month. This keeps both of us accountable on our spending, and allows us to discuss any financial goals we have in mind.
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I work with an excel spreadsheet. I have two columns for each of our incomes, columns for all our debts, a column for petty cash, and a column for savings. I use a formula to add the income columns and subtract the debt/petty/savings columns to get the ending total for the week. This money shows me what I have to bring over to the next pay day.
With this method, I can see how far in advance I can pay off debt along with seeing how much I can save by the end of the month. I have my sheet done all the way to the end of the year.
Start by tracking your spending - every dime for a few months. Then categorize it. Allow for expenses that only occur once or a few times during a year. (divide by 12 for annual bills, 4 for quarterly bills etc and set aside for future payment)
Fund an emergency savings
Fund your retirement
Pay off any cc debt and then pay off monthly
Allow for some personal money for each person with no accountability
Look at future goals - vehicle replacement, vacations, children etc.
Always save first and then spend
Sit down together every month at a minimum and go over your finances. Adjust the budget as needed as you see the need.
Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach is great for couples to get on the same page.
Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover for getting out of debt.