Not quite long after the marriage ceremony, a young couple begins to realize that it takes more than love to maintain a home. If the bride and the bridegroom had savings before marriage, they are surprised to see how quickly these savings can dwindle as they attempt to meet the needs of their newly established home.
Money represents the material things that provide a homelike setting. Money is what makes it possible for all members of the home to profit from the efforts of the wage earner. The amount of money and the handling of this money determine the standards of living in a given home.
Here are the danger spots regarding financial matters in relationships/marriage.
1. The slowness in the pace and sometimes the absence of wage increases can lead to a situation where family income is overtaken by needs.
2. A young woman reared in the lap of luxury usually finds it difficult to be content with the meager provisions of a new home in which the income is only a fraction of that of her parents.
3. The embarrassment that visits the young man in the relationship as a result of the superimposition of the will of parent-in-laws who assist him through his wife.
4. Tension may arise when the reduction of purchasing power forces itself upon the young woman who was gainfully employed before her marriage but who now chooses to devote herself to homemaking (housewife).
5. When a wife or lady earns more than the man, we have a situation in which the wife might force the husband to compromise in financial matters. The masculine mind is so constituted that it is hard for a man to cope with a situation in which his influence is entirely subordinated to that of his wife just because the woman earns more.
6. In some situations, when a wife realizes that she is thwarted in obtaining needs that her heart desires, she thinks in terms of her husband instantly increasing the family income than curtailing her own expenditures.
7. There are husbands ( or even boyfriends) who are overly ambitious or lazy. But, a wife’s inability to make her purchases cannot be used as a just standard in rating a husband’s performance in financial matters. This often leads to unfair accusations.
8. The counter-complaint that husbands make against their wives is that they are extravagant and lack the appreciation of money. If the underlying problem is the frugality of the man, then the wife may have good reasons why she tends in this direction.
9. In harmony with the laws of human nature, confidence in someone begets a sense of responsibility in the person in whom trust is reposed. A wife therefore has reason to resent any attitude by her husband which suggests she cannot be trusted with handling her share of the family’s funds. Some women are really good business managers, possibly even better than men.
10. How to get “enough money” is a very important matter in relationships.
Human wants and desires have a way of keeping just a step ahead of the source of income. There will never be “enough money”. Family planning and cutting your clothes according to your size also matter.