Put this in wrong place, so ill put it here to

[MarkR]

Hi all
Im getting married in July this up coming summer, And there some things Im looking for infomation on.

In my life I never had much money, so I never learned basic Finicial things like Checking and stuff like that.... but what else s there Vital need to know infomation for a guy, before getting married?

Thanks
Mark

[nana]

First off, Welcome and Congratulations on your upcomming wedding!

The number one thing is to learn about your checking account and balancing your bank account. Always know the balance in your account and make sure you never spend more than you have. Quicken is a wonderful tool to assist you with this. This is the first step to understanding your finances and create a budget (Quicken can also help you with that). The next step would be to get out of any credit card debt. Then you can start saving.

There are tons of websites that can help you with this. Be open and honest with your DF and tell her about your finances. Money issues bring a strain on a relationship. Just be honest with her, your sucess is her sucess, your challenges are her challenges.

Good luck.

[Deana]

Hi Mark,

Nana gave you some great tips. I'd also like to suggest that you look into some sort of retirement savings plan. You don't have to put a lot away per paycheck, but it makes a huge difference if you start saving for your retirement now.
I'd also recommend that you and your future spouse both have health insurance.

Best of luck and welcome to Hometalkers!

[Csara]

Hi Mark! Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials and welcome aboard. :D I hope that we will be a valuable source of information for you. Just ask away. We may not always be able to answer directly, but knowing how resourceful everyone here is, I'm sure there will always be someone to atleast supply you with a helpful link.

[angelrenee]

Everything so far has been great! Congratulations on your wedding! :D


Hmmm, my advice? Don't use credit unless you have to! For me, have to's are things like major car purchases or a home or something. Unless you won't eat otherwise, food isn't a valid credit purchase and anything you couldn't pay cash for you probably don't need. I've learned this the hard way. Then again, I am not one to be trusted with a credit card. I learned that the hard way too. :rolleyes:

I took me years to get used to the idea of having my own money and a checking account, so I know where you're coming from. :)

Your spending is probably going to change dramatically as you move from two separate people to a single unit. If you haven't already, you'll want to explore whether you want to maintain a single checking account jointly or each have your own. DH and I have one account, but that won't work for everyone.

Both of you will want to sit down and create a budget so you know what you are spending. Include your income(s) and all of your expected expenses like food, housing, gas, etc. Leave some for the unexpected as much as possible (I try to leave at least $100 a month). Ovewrbudgeting for things helps, too, so if a bill comes in higher (like electric in the hot summers) you won't go broke paying for it. DH and I have found that allowing each of us an "allowance" of sorts each month helps. We have $50 each month to spend on whatever we want without having to discuss it first (it used to be more, but you know how things change). That way we can each have some level of independance even in a joint bank account.

Oh, a big thing, no matter what, make sure that both of you know when things are due, how to pay them, when to pay them, etc. If something were to happen like one of you getting the flu for a week, you don't want to have bills missed out of a lack of knowledge. Keeping a ledger (computerized or not) of important dates helps. I keep a running list of when bills are paid. The ones that don't come out automatically are always paid on the same day each month. That way, I know that the bills won't be late and I won't be tempted to spend the money on something else first. Your bank may be able to help if they have a bill pay service. I have most of my bills set to pay automatically so that I don't have to think about them. There's only two bills that wouldn't get paid if we both left town for a month. Online banking is a lifesaver too.

I can't think of anything else right now. Hope some of this helps. :)

[angelrenee]

Almost forgot! Some college, particularly community colleges offer short courses on personal finance. Some go more into stocks and stuff, but other give great info on budgeting and controling your money. Maybe there's something offered in your community? (maybe something free? :))

[rdy2rac with]

Well I posted in your other post but wanted to add on to some things.

Originally posted by Deana
I'd also like to suggest that you look into some sort of retirement savings plan. You don't have to put a lot away per paycheck, but it makes a huge difference if you start saving for your retirement now.

I agree with this. My hubby & I each have 401K's through our employers but along with those we each have an IRA. We got these when doing our taxes. 2 years ago H&R Block offered direct deposit part of out refunds so we did it. this year we deposited another couple hundred from our refunds, totally taken care of by H&R Block. So now along with our 401K's growing we each have IRAs with a couple hundred in them. Nice to know just in case.

We also set up a college fund for our daughter after she was born. Once a month they directly withdrawl $50, she has around $800 in there now & she won't even be 2 untill Feb. Again its just nice to know its there for when you need it.

[tifferoo]

Originally posted by angelrenee
Both of you will want to sit down and create a budget so you know what you are spending. Include your income(s) and all of your expected expenses like food, housing, gas, etc. Leave some for the unexpected as much as possible (I try to leave at least $100 a month). Ovewrbudgeting for things helps, too, so if a bill comes in higher (like electric in the hot summers) you won't go broke paying for it. DH and I have found that allowing each of us an "allowance" of sorts each month helps. We have $50 each month to spend on whatever we want without having to discuss it first (it used to be more, but you know how things change). That way we can each have some level of independance even in a joint bank account.


Thanks angelrenee,

All of this advice really helped me out as well!!! I like that allowance idea. I heard a preacher say that a married couple shouldn't make a purchase over $100 without consulting their spouse first. Your way, what ever your allowance is, you can make that purchase and not affect the budget. Really sharp!

[angelrenee]

And honestly, that was more for me than DH. He's pretty controlled about money, but I'm an impulse buyer all the way. I've actually worked in counseling to fix some of that and I'm better, but it's nice to know I can have a little fun. :)

Something else I'd like to do but haven't gotten to yet with all of the unexpected things that keep popping up. We've got $100 for misc bills in the budget, about $100 for animal bills (food, vets, etc.), and of course the $100 for play money. We don't use it every month and the way I'd like to handle that is to put that money into a savings account. Otherwise, we don't have a lot to save... :) Besides, then if you don't use your play money one month, you can save it in a separate place for something bigger. Problem is that lately, we keep needing the funds from say vet bills for a doctor bill (same thing right? ;)) or for something like that. Ah well, eventually I'll get a better handle on it.