Give your best advice for newlyweds

crteach · 12-24-2004, 07:45 AM

(Got this idea after responding to another thread)

What is the best advice you would give to newlyweds? Based on your life experiences, what will help them as they grow and mature together?

Here's my best financial advice:

Always live off of one salary! I know a lot of people will think it can't be done (and, that might really be true in some cases). But here's why you should try: Live off of one salary so when you have kids, one of you can stay home with the kids to take care of them and it won't affect your standard of living.

Is it hard to life off of one salary? Sure! But you get used to living off whatever you spend. Even if both of you work, save all of one salary (I recommend to tithe it, first!) and live off the other. This does two things... 1) you will have a nice savings account that will one day be an emergency reserve for you or even be a downpayment on a house, and 2) gets you used to a certain standard of living on one salary so, for instance, when mom decides to stay at home with the kids instead of working it won't affect your standard of living very much.

Trust me.... knowing that I didn't have to work and could stay at home if I wanted to made all the difference in my attitude towards work. It freed me to make good choices regarding my family.

crteach · 12-29-2004, 09:26 PM

Ok... so maybe I should have suggested the thread of "best advice" and then not given any of my own, then wait for others to respond. I sure didn't mean to stifle things!

C'mon guys! Surely you have some advice from what you did well, or maybe how you may have messed up when you were first married and how others should avoid the same mistakes???!!!???

Let's hear from you!

danalyn · 01-05-2005, 08:17 AM

sounds like a great idea for a thread... most of the traffic in here are newlyweds or engaged couples...

BurntHombre · 01-05-2005, 08:48 AM

I remember a thread like this being started in GD and also dying a lonely death. Apparently all we married folk are keeping our secrets to ourselves.

danalyn · 01-05-2005, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BurntHombre

I remember a thread like this being started in GD and also dying a lonely death. Apparently all we married folk are keeping our secrets to ourselves.

seems that way...

I did get a PM from Jay42 with advice... and I have grandparents who have been married for 50 years, so I can ask them...

**Rach** · 01-05-2005, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crteach

Here's my best financial advice:

Always live off of one salary! I know a lot of people will think it can't be done (and, that might really be true in some cases). But here's why you should try: Live off of one salary so when you have kids, one of you can stay home with the kids to take care of them and it won't affect your standard of living.

Is it hard to life off of one salary? Sure! But you get used to living off whatever you spend. Even if both of you work, save all of one salary (I recommend to tithe it, first!) and live off the other. This does two things... 1) you will have a nice savings account that will one day be an emergency reserve for you or even be a downpayment on a house, and 2) gets you used to a certain standard of living on one salary so, for instance, when mom decides to stay at home with the kids instead of working it won't affect your standard of living very much.

Haha it is really funny that you mention (advise?) this...Chris (my fiancee) and I talked about this a while ago, and are planning on doing this once we get married and he starts teaching. All for the exact same reasons you stated above. Very good advice, in my opinion!