Thank you to the families that we have worked with this year! We have been privledged to serve you both through our coaching and through the Financial Peace University classes that we have facilitated. We hope that your lives have been changed for the better. Working with each of you has changed our lives as well. One of the many things that we have observed this year is that a budget or spending plan is only one part of a healthy financial plan. It is similar to a three ring circus. You have to have all three rings operating at once in order to have a great plan. Let’s look at these rings.
RING #1:
Time management!
So often we hear that our American lives are too busy to pay attention to our finances. We must set aside time to plan and dream. Without a set time on your calendar to make spending plan and prioritize your monthly spending, you will never get ahead. Carve out the time for your family’s future. It is the best gift that you could give them and yourself.
RING #2
Communication!
Talking to your spouse about priorities, dreams and money is also very important to do every month. One of you may not like to talk about money, but if you can dream about what you would like to do with the assets that you have, it will help you to focus your spending plan in one direction instead of many. A focused plan is easier to maintain and will take less time. (See ring #1) Keep your meetings brief and to the point so that you can both have some input. Talk often and it will become a refreshing habit.
RING #3
Spending Plan!
Some people know this better as a budget. Again, it is important to do this every month. Since you spend money differently each month, each month’s budget needs to be different as well. A lot of the numbers will stay the same, but not all of them. Once you establish a budget routine, it will get easier and take less time each month to prepare.
So who is the circus master in your household? Rememeber that even if one spouse is better at budgeting, communication and time management that does not mean that the other spouse is off the hook. Many hands are needed to run a great circus. Assign tasks together, talk continually and watch the bear dance!
Tim and Kathryn Gerken are Financial Coaches in Newcastle, WA. They serve their community in the greater Seattle area.
As we meet with coaching clients, we very often encounter couples who do not communicate well when it comes to their money. Often times, one spouse was raised to handle money differently than the other. Factoring in personality differences like we find that one is a saver and one is a spender. The end result, typically, is that one partner handles all the money decisions and the other ignores the situation and complains about not being able to buy a sandwich. In our coaching, we try to help these couples to open the door of communication and work together. Here are a few tips that you may find helpful.
Coming into the Thanksgiving, Tim and I would like to say thank you to all of you who have connected with us this year. At Gerken Financial Coaching, we strive to provide you with relevant information to help you with the challenges of personal finance. We have many different venues that you can connect with us to learn more.
I have been a conflict avoider for most of my life. Part of that probably has to do with me being the first-born, part has to do with me being a perfectionist and part has to do with my not liking to be wrong. My personality type is one who likes to have all the facts and details in place and well understood before making a decision. Because I understand this about myself, most of the time this tendency works out to my advantage. Sometimes, however, paralysis of analysis sets in, stress levels are raised and opportunities are missed. I know and work with people all the time who don’t labor over making decision. Some will readily make a decision, even with very little information, and later if they don’t like it don’t have a problem making a different decision altogether.
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