Talking about the important things w/ this whole marriage thing and YNAB (You Need A Budget)

I’ve got three months FREE with YNAB today at the end of this post so do not miss out on all that goodness:)

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Let’s go over my financial past real quick before we chat about YNAB.

Rewind to about three years ago—>  I moved back to Utah from California and started completely over again with nada.  My mom and I flew home that day with some of me and Brooke’s clothes and two of my brothers drove my jeep back (13 hour drive!) and that is pretty much all I had.   I lived at my parents’ house for a year, I needed to be there that year because my parents are the most helpful people you can imagine during that crazy rough time in life.   That year spent at their house also allowed me the chance to save up to be able to move out to an apartment and to furnish it and start a new normal for me and Brookers (oh, and to pay for a lawyer;).  PS there was a day right when I moved back to Utah that I almost pulled the plug on HRG… going through a divorce with a lot of eyes on every move you make was really rough but I am BEYOND glad I kept blogging during that time because of the connections I made with other women struggling with the same trials and the amount of support from you guys was everything to me.

Then we moved to an awesome apartment we loved and then back in March of this year we moved to a brand new one that felt like home.  I was sure we were going to be living where we are at now for years…. and then two seconds later I met Andrew and he swept me off my feet.  In about a week we will be moving into his house (after a solid weekend of painting… who wants to come help? I kid, kind of;)

To be completely honest, until meeting Andrew… budgeting has never been a thing for me over the last few years.  I never went into debt for things and I always put a little money into savings but other than that I just kind of lived.  We ate out when we wanted to, shopped, did our random trips down to St. George and the two of us did what we wanted to (yes, my brain still works like a teenager at times).  I made all of the decisions without discussing it with anybody else.

But now I’m MARRIED.  That still feels weird to say (ehh type) out loud… probably because it happened just a few days ago ha.  Pics won’t be back for a few weeks so I’ll just share a random snapchat from the ceremony:)

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I’ve got a partner for everything now.  Some days I am still in complete shock to have somebody that is my biggest teammate and wanting to help with anything that I need.  I got so used to just doing things myself (and let’s be honest… with my mom’s help too) that this all feels like a dream to have somebody by my side through everything and wanting the absolute best for me.  PS random but below is a picture one of the breakfasts that he makes for us in the morning.  He knows that food is one of my love languages.

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Something that Andrew and I decided together once marrying each other was on our minds, was that we need to be smart about our budgeting/finances and work together.  Money is something that can REALLY tear a marriage apart and we wanted to go into this whole thing in the best way possible.

Like anything in a relationship, communication is key.  Key.  Knowing the other person’s ideas, goals, dreams and letting them in on what you believe and feel allows each person to understand and to feel understood.  We decided we wanted to be organized and have an awesome way to help us to save our money and avoid living paycheck to paycheck.

What we are using now to do all of this——>  YNAB (You Need A Budget).

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YNAB is a personal budgeting web app (works with Android and iOS) and Andrew and I are HUGE fans of their four rules.  I think they are so right on and their principles are very similar to the ones I grew up hearing from my parents growing up.

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We’ve got a lot of changes going on over here and I feel like YNAB is helping us to really figure out a flexible plan.  Life changes fast and I change my mind a lot ha and using YNAB makes it so you can easily adjust things and move forward too.  I love that they are so great at teaching you that budgeting isn’t a restriction but a way to do MORE of the things that matter to you.  I’m a huge fan of having control (ummm for example running and cleaning my kitchen obsessively each night before I go to bed;) and this app has helped us to feel like we are in control of our money.

YNAB is a method… you decide what is important to you, you decide how to get there and they give you the support to do these things.  They are big on education and offering support for all of their users and they have free online classes daily (also, if you are a student—>  YNAB is free for you)!  PS I’ve been loving the videos that are 3-4 minutes on Facebook and their customer support team is insanely fast at answering any questions.

I love that both Andrew and I can have access to our budget/goals from anywhere (mostly we use our phones with this but also our computers).    I love that this will help us to know what we can afford and reach our goals (as far as travel goals go we REALLY want to get to Switzerland to visit one of my best friend’s and to take the kids on a Disney Cruise in the next few years).

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Today is your lucky day!! You can get THREE months FREE by clicking HERE!!! (PS no credit card required!)

Sponsored by YNAB!!! Thank you for following along and supporting us and our sponsors.

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How does budgeting work in your household? 

Have any good tips to save money on life/food/anything at all please?!  Also, is running part of your budget?

Biggest changes that have happened to you over the last little while?

Have any relationship tips?  I love reading these!

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69 comments

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Never go to bed angry. Never tell your partner a lie and always be open to try your partners ideas and interests, you don’t have to like them or continue but at least try.

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From my own experience I have to disagree with your first advice! For my husband and I, we get more agitated and fights escalate if we stay awake, so for us we have to go to bed angry sometimes! The rest of your advice is gold though :)

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20 years together- and we have never gone to bed angry. Ever. Sometimes that means staying up all.night.long to hash something out. But it’s been pretty much our golden rule For 20 years and we are still happily, completely infatuated, teenagers in love. :) it works!!

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Congratulations on 20 years! That’s so awesome :) To each their own!

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Me too! If we never went to bed angry we would be in a huge fight at three am. Tired and angry is not a good combo for us. Sleep totally helps us chill out and wake up and realize if there’s something we really need to deal with or if we were just grumpy and ready to move on. I think it depends on the couple. You need to know what works for you and your spouse.

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I’m getting married in 51 days (who’s counting?) and my fiancé and I were JUST talking about financial planning last night. We are in the process of deciding how to combine our incomes and open a new joint account. So much to do! I am going to talk to him about YNAB. I think it could be a great tool!

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I’m really lucky because my husband and I both have the same priorities – we want to have no debt, and save up for travel. We were able to buy our first house this year, and decided on a small one that was way below what we got approved for, because we would rather have that money go towards our travel fund than a mortgage. I’m so lucky to have someone that has the same financial ideals as me, because like you said that can really hurt a relationship!

Big changes in my life lately have been getting married (in May), moving to our new house (also May), and starting a new job (HEY that was May too!)

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This is such a timely post for me! For the last few years I’ve been saving and saving and saving to afford to buy a house/condo. Now I’m ready to put that money towards a big down payment and even though I’ll have some left over for an emergency fund it feels CRAZY to think of how much won’t be in my bank account anymore. I really want to crank down on my budgeting so that I can refill my savings once we get the condo!

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We use Mint, which sounds similar to YNAB. It allows us to see our spending, debt, and savings on a real time basis. Running and hobbies are definitely part of the budget.

Biggest changes: buying a house and changing jobs within the last three years. We are definitely in a sweet spot at the moment :)

Advice: communication and trust are key. Be his friend :)

I can’t wait to see more wedding pics and I’m super glad you didn’t pull the plug, you’ve been such an inspiration.

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Budgeting has definitely been a challenge for me in adult life because my parents never taught me how to budget when I was growing up. In fact, they’ve always been really bad at it. I signed up for the free YNAB trial, so hopefully this will be helpful!

I wish I could help with relationship tips, but sadly I really have nothing to offer in that department. :/ I probably need advice–like how to get a man.

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My husband and I are trying to budget so maybe we will look into this. Budgeting is definitely important and something we’ve been focusing more on. I’m always interested to see what others do.

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Me and my hubby need to get better with budgeting but that will be easier because he’s just about to GRADUATE from PT school after being there forever! Having a more steady income will make budgeting a little easier…

Relationship advice: Every day you have together is a blessing. There are going to be ups and downs, but don’t take each other for granted. I’ve dealt with so much loss that it terrifies me to think that anything could happen to him at any time, but I try to make the most of the time we spent together and not waste too much time arguing and being upset. Love you!!

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When my husband and I first got married we did the envelope budgeting where you set aside cash in envelopes for specific things..groceries, bills, vacation, etc. but we also each had an envelope with our name on it where we could get a certain amount to spend on whatever we wanted without feeling guilty or like we had to ask the other person first if it was ok. We don’t do it anymore because we have a handle on it for the most part but it worked for us in the beginning when we were new to sharing an account together. Congrats again on your wedding you looked Gorgeous!

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I love the mint app for budgeting. it’s free and it’s amazing. I’ve been using it for years and they send you a weekly update showing you where your money went and you get push notifications if you go over in any particular area. it’s a game changer.

my biggest relationship advice is compromise is key. there is usually a win-win option in every argument even if it requires both sides to give up a little bit, it just may take some time to find that middle ground.

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I just started using YNAB a few weeks ago and love it! Setting it up is a little weird because the thinking is so different but I love how every dollar has a job. :)

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My relationship tip is to not let your husband know that you can paint, which you already violated haha! No for real, keep relationships simple, enjoy the everyday, validate and support each other, and assume the best out of each other.

We budget with a free online system. Currently trying to figure out how to squeeze daycare for another kid into the budget so we can work on baby #2!

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Good for you girl! Being smart about money is so smart! Josh and I are currently saving for a house which is fun but scary!!

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I am on a student budget and growing a business so this would be exactly what I need to stay on track. It’s hard when you don’t have something holding you accountable!

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I’ve been on a budget for a few years now, but got really serious about it towards the end of last year when I decided I wanted to get out of debt (student loans :( ) asap. I used the Every Dollar budgeting app and it’s working really well for me.

I think the best way to save money is comparison shopping. It does take time, but it’s worth it when you know you are getting the best deal on something and you won’t find it for cheaper somewhere else tomorrow.

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I love Every Dollar!!

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Love that you’re so happy and love how you talk about Andrew as a partner in life and that you guys prioritize communication above all else, in every area. I’m a relationship therapist and so many of my clients are struggling with wishing they’d communicated better/more honestly/differently with their partner when they had the chance, whether it was about feelings or finances or dreams or anything they harbored within them that they couldn’t find the words for…it will fester in you and you never want to deal with the regret of words unsaid. It’s often not what you say but how you say it, also, and knowing that you’re with someone who knows your character and intentions and will understand where you’re coming from even when your words don’t come out just quite right, well –that’s gold. Best wishes to you two!

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My career in graphic design has left me struggling with full time vs freelance life from year to year. I currently just went back to freelancing full time and it’s hard to budget when I don’t have consistent income. It’s scary.

My boyfriend and I probably won’t be moving forward with marriage and home purchase for a while. But we’re taking the time now to start talking about how it would all work out. So by the time we’re ready we will know just how to pull it off :)

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My best money saving tip is meal planning and sticking to it! I am an obsessive planner so the first piece is easy for me. Usually by the end of the week I am ready to go out to eat/not cook, but if I already have something planned for dinner it helps keep us on track. I do plan in one or two nights to go out to dinner/order in per paycheck just to get a break. Something else I just started doing recently after reading a tip online, when you go shopping make a list. If you find something that is not on your list that you “need”, put it on the list to come back for next time. If you still need/want it next time then you can get it. This is a biggie for me at Target because…it’s Target. Good luck!!

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We use YNAB and we love it!!! Especially me because I don’t really like numbers, but YNAB makes it so easy to track spending and meet our goals!

Great post — love seeing y’all happy :)

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I am so beyond terrible at budgeting. Every month I say I will be better but it never happens. Maybe I need to look into this app :)

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I have been using YNAB for a couple years now and it has helped me save so much! I am moving to England in December and getting married in March (I can’t work in England until after we get married so need to be saving!) so having been tracking all my spending like a crazy woman. I think knowing what I am actually spending money on and making myself enter it into my budget has showed me how much I had been spending on little things I don’t need.

But….Running and races have their own category in my budget and it is a big chunk of the budget as well! Hehe

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Biggest change in my life recently? This pregnancy! I never knew my my body could be capable of something so miraculous!

Relationship advice? Learn how each other communicate! My husband and I process things way differently. I talk through things, (most of the time I don’t even know the point of what I’m trying to say) to find a solution or I eventually tire myself out ;)

Landon thinks through a situation/problem/or decision and then comes up with a solution or decision.

When we first got married, I had to learn that his silence didn’t mean he was upset or mad, it’s just how he processes things!

Now we both try to help each other. He ties to talk through more things, while I am learning to listen more/let him think for a while before I ask for an answer. ;)

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I’ve been married for almost 24 years now, and we have been investing money ever since we got married. Just putting a little bit of money away really adds up!! We’ve always used Quicken to track our finances and make sure we spend within our means. My husband recently quit his job (early retirement!), which was scary for me, but it’s really worked out because we know we are financially stable and it’s great to have him home with the kids. I hope to take early retirement in the next few years too, so we can travel! So my advice is, start saving early. Every little bit counts and if you save automatically, you’ll never miss it :)

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I “use” Mint – but I’ve found that I stopped signing in, mostly because I’ve become fairly frugal by nature in my adult life & so I just don’t end up buying things that put me over my budget. Meal planning // grocery shopping is fun for me. I eat my own food 99% of the time, which is a huge money saver.

Honestly, my biggest overall tip, is, you can’t buy stuff if you don’t go shopping. I don’t save my credit card info for online shops, so every time I go to buy something I have to go find my card, think about it & then type all the info in. If I don’t walk in to Target, I can’t buy things & get sucked in by the dollar spot.

As far as relationship advice…I’m not married, but, keep no secrets, tell the truth, even more detail than you think you may need, better to offend a little now, than a lot down the road if someone feels you’ve hidden something from them. + be honest about money (which you’re doing) it can make a lot of things easier or harder down the road depending on how you manage it now.

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Meal planning saves a lot on groceries. Cable isn’t a need– don’t waste that money, pay off any debt as fast as you can afford to. There’s also a great app called Ibotta that gives you rebates for things you but, mostly groceries. Not much but sometimes every penny counts.

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I used to be on a budget when I was married. I got divorced about a year and a half ago and things have been a bit hay wire since. Now I’m getting back on track and this post was actually and answer to a prayer to get me going in the right direction.

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I was not smart with money throughout college, but I handle it now. I pay my bills, my husband pays his, and we split groceries, electric, and internet. It works for us!

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We use YNAB too-need to get back to it bc it was working great for us!

Biggest relationship tip-lower your expectations. That sounds bad, but I find myself getting mad at my hubby for not filling every possible role in my life. He doesn’t always want to have a detailed talk about my nail polish, and I shouldn’t expect him too. I still need friends, especially ones that are in the same place in life as me, and my parents, and whoever else. I love my husband for who he is and when I lower my expectations it takes a lot of pressure off him too and our marriage is happier.

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My boyfriend and I keep separate accounts where our paychecks go into, and our personal accounts are for us spending our money however we choose. On that note, we have a joint account where we have our mortgage payment come out of. We also have a tenant in our suite, so her rent money goes into this account to cover the mortgage and bills. All of our bills are pre-authorized from this “mortgage account,” that way both of us are accountable for pitching in our share.

Tips to save: Pay yourself! Even if it’s $25 from every paycheck (or every month, however you choose) into a savings account. That will accumulate over time and can act as a vacation fund, rainy day fund, etc. If you are saving for something in particular it’s important to visually see if you are on track, and by having my money automatically go into savings, I can see it build up when I check my banking online.

Biggest change for me in the last six months is being a homeowner. While it is exciting, there are lots of expenses that go along with it like property taxes, utilities, renovations, etc. This has forced me to be more mindful of how I spend my money.

And my biggest relationship: make each other laugh!! Ryan keeps me laughing all the time, even when I just want to have a pity party and be sad. I appreciate this so much and try to make him laugh too as I know how GOOD it feels to have a nice belly laugh! Laughing and talking. If he makes me mad or frustrated, I am not afraid to call him out and say, Hey that wasn’t cool. Then we have a chat about it, have a laugh, and move on.

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We’ve used YNAB for over a year, and we LOVE it! It’s like using the money envelope system, but electronically so we don’t have to carry around cash. I’m the money manager of the family, and before it was so hard to keep on the same page with my husband where we were with the budget. Now he just checks the app, and doesn’t spend what isn’t there in the budget. I’m also actually getting ahead, budgeting for Christmas and car repairs, etc. Before I would budget for those things, but always dip into those reserves for other things. I’m also trying to build up sky miles on my American Expeess, but pay it off each month. This keeps me organized, and still in budget.

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Marry your best friend.

Remember WHY you married them and what you love about them, especially during arguments or when they upset you. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Assume their intentions were good before you assume otherwise.

Wake up everyday and ask yourself: What can I do today to make my partner happy? If you both wake up thinking that there will be a lot of happiness. :D

Don’t try and change them. At all. They were alive on the planet as their own person for a long time before they met you. They were themselves before they were a husband or a father or a boyfriend, etc. and they have a right to continue to be so. Encourage their hobbies, ESPECIALLY ones that you may not be interested in. Its okay to support your partner in making changes or bettering themselves of course, but accept them 150% as who they are and love every little “annoying” habit.

Be humble. Admit when you’re wrong even when its REALLY hard or REALLY embarrassing. Allow them to do the same without judgmant.

Be kind, kind, kind.

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I love this so much!!!

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This is great! I fully agree… just had our 7th anniversary and while still a work in progress this is what I am always working toward.

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We’ve been using YNAB for a year-and-a-half now and we love it. It makes keeping track of expenses and planning for your goals SO easy.

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I would say communication- being open and not bottling your feelings in until they explode, let go of your ego and when you’re wrong, say sorry- all the stuff we teach the kids- we should be doing :)

Budgeting- I love budgeting. I think it’s like my hobby to just look and work with numbers. Some people swear by having separate accounts but we have it all together. And then I separate them into different categories!
When I first came to the states, I wasn’t used to using credit or credit cards for everything. And it felt weird that you needed to build your credit by having and using a credit card too. It just didn’t make any sense to me. Now, years have passed and I’m okay with the whole concept- but it’s important to be transparent with your budgeting- you and your spouse should always be on the same page & know what’s going on. I totally agree that finance could break a marriage!

Switzerland sounds like an amazing trip :)
I heard of so many great things about it. I should’ve visited when my brother was living there but I missed the chance. Heard everything is super expensive though…

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My husband and I have been using YNAB since 2013 and it has been fantastic! It helped us graduate without debt! And it’s just the most amazing thing ever! You will never go back after using it!!!

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We have tried to budget but are not that good at it. :( We really need to give it another go.
The advice my mother in law gave on our wedding day, “Always remember how you felt about each other on this day.” So simple yet and easy way to really put things in perspective when things aren’t going so well.
The biggest change that has happened to me in a while is going back to work full-time. I stayed home with my girls for 7 years and then worked per-diem the last 3. In January, we decided I needed to return to work full-time to carry our health benefits. This has been a tough transition for us and the kids. I’m kind of hoping it won’t have to be this way forever.

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I’m single so I only have to worry about myself :) makes budgeting easy, but I try to account for every single little thing when I’m estimating how much money I need (i’m in school so loans + grants). I try to track for a week or so how much I’m spending on things, and then extrapolate that to a month at a time.
When I was marathon training, running was definitely in the budget. you need to buy gels, protein powder, powerade in the summer, new shoes every few months, and you’re appetite is way up which means you’re probably spending more on food as well.
Now that I’m not taking running too seriously, I spend basically no money on it. I’ve been wearing the same sneakers for over a year now (yea maybe thats bad but I haven’t had any shin pain which is usually what makes me get new shoes, and I’m a poor grad student ;)

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If you’re really serious about a budget/staying out of debt/saving/retiring…. Dave Ramsey is your guy!!!! Look him up on you tube, read “Total Money Makeover”, check out his website. He is the best and his budget tool is always free. I live by his words. He has truly changed my life. Even Scott and Barbara Elder recommend him!!!!!!

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Well I’m building a coaching business and otherwise unemployed… haha so I’m at the “back at home with the parents” stage right now and all my budget decisions are my own! I too have to keep a tight ship though!

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I am loving this post and the comments. My husband and I were just talking about how we’ve never really budgeted (for 10 years!) and it’s time to sit down and do it. I am definitely going to mention YNAB. The biggest change in my life has been my husband going out on his own and starting his own company a year ago. It has been an amazing, scary year! And I’m pretty sure budgeting would help this next year more than we can imagine. Thanks for writing about this!

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BIg things: Just got married last September and we just bought a house back in May. Been doing some reno’s before moving in at the end of this month.
I think of Budgeting as Dieting/Healthy Eating… It can be fun for some and a pain for others to stick too… My husband and I don’t really stick to a budget… we make sure to put away a certain amount every week though (it’s automatic, so we don’t have to think about it). However, I do think there are areas where we can definitely save… Especially since we are doing some renovations (new roof, paint, bathroom, floors) and every dollar counts! We realized we were spending alot of money on going out to eat… so doing more meal planning has been key and shopping sales at grocery stores saves alot of money! Don’t forget to clip coupons to your card if you have one!
Relationship Advice… communication, communication, communication!! Constant support and understanding each other’s love language.

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We kept our finances separate when we got married (control freak here!), and it’s been awesome. After having been married before and having money (control) be a huge issue, I didn’t want to deal with it again. I’m intrigued by the YNAB process though, so I’ll check it out!

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I have never really budgeted either. I pay all my bills and I check to see the money in/money out but I don’t designate money towards saving for anything specific. I was having a bit of a panic the other day over the fact that my student loan debt feels like it’ll never be gone and that I have no retirement fund started so now I am trying to get those things figured out, which means having a budget of some sort!

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You’re right, budgeting is so important! My husband and I use mint.com to have a better idea of how our money is spent. We always communicate with each other before making big purchases. It’s important to communicate openly about your finances and anything that’s on your mind with your partner. My other advice is to not bottle things up and to NEVER speak poorly about your partner to others. My husband and I had that problem in the past where he would talk about our relationship to someone and that person would only remember the negative things about me and would pass thst information onto others. This person was considered to be one of his “best friends”. Your spouse should be your best friend and we now both firmly believe that.

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My husband and I have been budgeting our whole marriage (7+ years) and we discovered YNAB 2 years ago. It is SO much better than the google spreadsheet we had been using! I can sing verse after verse of praise for YNAB. No lie. Make it do its job for you guys. It’s a fantastic tool.

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Thanks for sharing YNAB! This is perfect timing because my fiance and I have been talking about restructuring how we budget. As far as relationship advice goes, my fiance and I have been together for 8 years. I would say always be patient and remind each other of why you love each other. My fiance and I are complete opposites, so we have had to learn to be patient with each other and choose our battles. A couple of years ago, I made us a book of love letters for any occasion that helps us remember the important things, like why we fell in love, or letters to myself about not getting so worries and worked up. It’s been helpful for those times we haven’t seen eye to eye.

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Biggest change? Moving again, and breaking up with my significant other of almost 6 years. Life changes, ones that I’m not entirely sure I like, but am dealing with. Moving onnnnnnn, and hopefully into a better mental space over the next few months.

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My husband and I have different hobbies and different expenses; ie I don’t want him to have to pay for my student loans, while I don’t want to contribute to his video game expenditures. We each have our own checking accounts and savings accounts and then a joint checking for all domestic costs- mortgage, child expenses, utilities, groceries, etc… If a big repair is needed we each pony up half the cash and put it in the joint to cover the cost. But my contacts, car insurance, nights out with girlfriends, shoes, etc… all come from my own checking account. In eight years of marriage we have never had one fight about money. Obviously we would have to rework the system if someone lost a job, started making crazy money (we make about the same right now), or there was something else that came up. I have so many friends that wish they did it this way.

Congrats, by the way!

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YNAB wants access to my bank account and passwords? That sounds a bit risky for me to give that information to anyone.

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I love YNAB! It’s helped keep me on track with my spending. I use it religiously!

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I love to know exactly how much money I have and keep a budget going! This app would be a great asset for me!

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I saw on Instagram that some Olympians were at YOUR track today! (BYU) Did that cause a stir? Did you go over there??

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AHHHH REALLY!?!?! WHICH ONES??? I didn’t hear a thing about it!! I need details!

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We have an odd system in our house. We’ve been married for 7 years, together for 10. Our system is that we have separate checking accounts and a joint savings. We apportion bills and household expenses roughly according to our proportionate income. Honestly, bills are more set, household items we rotate. We each have our own retirement accounts that we contribute to separately.

Originally we set it up that way because I’m a little nervous about combined accounts (I have divorced parents and grandparents). As we’ve been together, the lines have definitely blurred more on accounts. It is still nice though not having my husband wondering about my clothing expenses or me wondering about how much he’s spending on at sporting events. Also, we can actually buy gifts for each other that feel like gifts. So, its a bit weird, but the savings get built up and we are each happy.

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I’ve been abroad for the past month in Spain, so I spent all morning catching up on your exciting phase of life right now. First, CONGRATULATIONS on the marriage! I cannot wait to watch your growing family thrive. :) Thank you for telling me about this! I’m a student so I’m totally going to look into this!

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I can’t believe you moved in in March and were married by July. Yikes!

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I’ve been reading your blog for a while and I love it! Thx, for sharing all this with us. And, Congratulations on your marriage! I wish you and your family all the best! You all look so happy on the pictures! After reading this blogpost I really have to leave a comment ;-). I live in Switzerland and I just wanted to tell you it’s definitively worth a visit! It’s a pretty cool place! :-) Take care, Karin

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I am Swiss and very honoured you want to visit my country!!!
My boyfriend and I live in Bern (the capital) so if you’re ever in the area we’d be happy to treat you to a swiss style barbecue in the garden (or fondue depending on the weather)!
It would be soo much fun to host one of my favourite bloggers, imagine that :)

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We use Mint.com for our budget. I’ve used it for years and it works out really well. I am the one that pays the bills and manages the money but my wife is still able to check the budget whenever she wants. She mostly uses it to make sure we are on track with spending on groceries. (Although lately I’ve done most of the grocery shopping)

I try to save money by scrutinizing our expenses. I look at each category and try to see if I can save some money there. Like I get insurance quotes once or twice a year to make sure I’m getting the best rates. I often would try to get on a promotion for cable (until we cut the cord a couple years ago). We’ve saved money on cell phones by trying out Republic Wireless. We got Ringplus for an extra cell phone to work as a “home phone” or for babysitters so we don’t need a landline. We check with each other before making major purchases.

I think just being aware of your spending helps quite a bit. So just having a budget helps. Even if you totally blow the budget in a month, you can see where you messed up and hopefully it will help you from doing it next time. :)

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This page truly has all the information I needed about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.

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I absolutely LOVE YNAB – we’ve been using it for 2 months now and it was the best decision ever. My hubby and I make good salaries but we live in one of the most expensive cities in the world (NYC) and we have never been able to really save money. We could maybe save $100 a month max but nothing more than that. Sometimes, we would even go through our savings… Oops.

We’ve been using YNAB for 2 months which made us aware of our spending. Very aware, and we haven’t really changed our lifestyle but it does make us think twice about spending our money. In 2 months, we’ve saved $3,300!!!!

Love YNAB, we are now saving for our honeymoon, which we never got to take when we got married 3 years ago. Safari in South Africa, we’re coming (in a couple months, once we’ve saved enough!)

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