Woah, woah, woah! So that happened fast! You’re a grown up, now what?!? Single, engaged, married, etc., it doesn’t matter where you are in life, this blog post applies to every human who works to live – see what I did there (hehe)?

So, let’s talk about finances. Ever since I started working for “real” money, I would forecast exactly how much I was going to make and how much I was going to use for expenses. I became pretty obsessed with the process, especially because I loved the feeling of watching my savings account grow! I must thank my parents for forcing me to become responsible by taking over my insurance bill and other things I wanted to buy. I strongly believe this is what drove me to manage my money wisely.

After dating Jose for a while, we had the money talk. Yep, before we got married. I think it’s pretty obvious this is something you want to discuss before getting married because you want to know their relationship with money. It was important for me to know where he stood – was he a big spender, saver, etc.? It was refreshing to know his values aligned with mine (for the most part). He still doesn’t understand the whole gift giving ordeal.

After the wedding, we merged our finances. We are strong believers in two becoming one – we are a team. Since the very beginning, we have held monthly meetings to review our budget for the month. This has improved overtime and we don’t get frustrated with each other as much as we did at the beginning – LOL! They say marriage is hard…personally, I think it’s fun. It’s fun until it’s time to set that monthly budget and you have to justify your categories. All jokes aside, we started with a spreadsheet and now we are using Mint.

Mint is your online bookkeeping tool. It is meant to be a one-stop source for: banking information, savings information, credit score information, investment information, etc. It’s easy and free to use! To learn more about it, click here. This is by far the fastest and most convenient way for us to keep track of all of our accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, etc.). Through Mint, you’ll be able to track your net worth, upcoming bills, category spend, trends, etc., in real-time.

As a married couple, budgeting has helped us:

1. Improve our communication skills;
2. Keep each other accountable;
3. Increase transparency in our marriage;
4. Move closer to our financial goals; and
5. Plan and prepare for the future.

If budgeting is something you are not currently doing, it’s okay. It’s never too late to start. Just remember – the sooner, the better.

There are so many FREE online resources to help you learn more about budgeting and saving. If you have any questions about Mint, please feel free to shoot me an email at mrsprofresh@gmail.com. I’ll be glad to tell you more about it!