Money Talk Matters

Archive for April, 2010

I was doing some research which is one of my favorite things to do and I discovered that VH1 is doing several new reality shows. One is titled Wedding Wars which is engaged couples competing for a dream wedding. No word yet on when it will be airing, just know that it is coming.

I would say to those engaged couples out there, don’t let television define how you handle your wedding let alone your marriage. You are entering into a covenant with someone you love and life will change and so will both of you. Give each other the opportunity to become all that you can be (No, you are not entering into the military). Let’s be real, you won’t stay that same age.. you gain wisdom as you get older. I know wisdom is a great thing.

Engaged couples think about how you want your wedding to go and then think about what you would like to see happen throughout your marriage and begin communicating about it now.

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching The Price is Right which is one of my favorite game shows that I have been watching every since I can remember. This one particular episode was dedicated to “Engaged Couples” which I felt was a nice twist to the show. Seeing brides-to-be and grooms-to-be bidding on various gifts they could use for their marriage was pretty nice.

I also observed that some did not discuss and one person just handled the bidding. Hmmm, that holds true once married that often times, I will have to say women are the money managers whether they want to be or not. Money is a topic that should be discussed on the regular in a marriage, I would even say weekly discussions in the beginning in order to get the non-money manager spouse involved in knowing what is happening with the marital finances.

For a weekly discussion, I recommend making it fun and light-hearted and not all serious. Hint brides-to-be if you come at your spouse too serious there will already be some dread in what you are going to say. Believe me, learn early how to talk with your mate about those important topics including money. Being proactive about your finances instead of reactive will go a long way.

Been really busy and now have the time to get back on the blog to write. OOOH must catch up. I began my morning by reading various articles and came across this article that was on the NYTimes.com website titled The Burden of Paying for Wedding Bells Shift.

I had to stop and read it because first it says “The Burden” which the word burden is generally perceived in a negative fashion. Burden means load, obligation carried. We all know that times have changed from the Parents of the Bride paying for the wedding alone and more brides and grooms are having to “foot their own bill”.

Why not think beyond the wedding day and consider the following:

(1) The wedding is for one day and how much “debt” are you willing to incur that you could be paying on for years to come. That does not mean you shouldn’t have a wedding, that means you should be honest about your financial situation.

(2) Do you want to start out your marriage with financial stress and strain from wedding debt instead of having fun nurturing your marriage, starting that new chapter in your lives?

(3) How many couples do you personally know that are fighting about their financial situation shortly after their wedding day?

These are just initial questions you should think about. I read in the article where this one young lady was receiving $125,000 from both sides and I couldn’t help but think why not put that money towards a downpayment on a starter house, pay off student loans, etc instead of putting that towards “ONE DAY”!

Recommendation: Do not let your wedding day plans and costs be a burden that you regret for years to come.

Read the article and share your thoughts!