When your significant other becomes your spouse
The walk down the aisle is complete, you’ve hit the road for your honeymoon, and you’ve dropped off your dress for preservation or your tux at the cleaners'. Now, it is time to get down to the business of being married. Merging households after you’ve had your wedding can seem like tricky business. Thankfully, we have some tips and tricks that will make your transition from betrothed to married just a little bit easier.
Joining Assets
Now that you’ll be living under the same roof, you’ll need to figure out how to merge households financially. Every couple is different, and there are several methods that may work. Experts, however, suggest creating a joint account strictly for household bills and joint expenditures and keeping separate accounts for personal discretionary spending. For example, groceries and mortgage payments would come out of the joint account, but clothing shopping would be removed from the personal account. A conversation should be had regarding what will work best for your needs, and your family.
Establishing Goals
Marriage and financial experts suggest working with your partner to establish financial goals before you actually tie the knot. It is better to know if your financial plans are shared before you get married, experts advise. Sit down with your partner and discuss your five-year, ten-year, and 20-year plan. This can help you set realistic expectations for savings and other expenditures.
Know What You Want
Do you have dreams of birthing a baseball team, and sending them all off to ivy league colleges? Experts suggest setting aside time to think about what you want, and how you plan to achieve your goals before discussing them with your partner. Having a clear-cut expectation and knowing what you want can help you express those needs more efficiently to your partner. Ask your partner to do the same, and then set aside time to talk about how your goals coincide and if compromises need to be made. Don’t be alarmed, however, if you do need to make concessions. After all, two people aren’t going to agree on everything. Experts suggest ensuring the foundation of a happy life match, the details can be worked out over time.
Duplicate Items
If you’ve never lived with your partner, you’ll be surprised by the amount of stuff you have both accumulated, especially if you’ve lived on your own for some time. Asking two people to rid themselves of items can be a bit of a battle, but you’ll want to sit down and decide what items you should keep, and which items you should donate. After all, you won’t be needing two bedroom sets or two living room sets. Experts suggest keeping the items that are of higher quality and selling or donating the alternate set. Not only will your items go to a good home, but you won’t feel as blue about parting with your single furnishings if you know you’ve done good for someone else. Discuss your décor preferences with your partner, and consider bringing in some new items that you’ve purchased together. This can help make merging households feel more fun.
Getting married is about more than just the wedding, it is also about merging households. After all the details are planned, and the walk down the aisle happens, you’ll want to get busy building your life with your partner. Following these few simple tips, and discussing the business of being married can help get you both off on the right foot.
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