By Daniel Rodriguez | Dr. Budgets
With wedding season upon us, we are focusing on couples and money during the month of May! We kicked off with a success story from Owen and Amanda, who are working together to pay off their debt.
Their story got me thinking about how Dr. Budgets can help couples (specifically) with their money. Here are five ways we help couples and money mix:
A Compass: The first thing we do when we start working with our clients is identify strong financial goals. Sometimes, in the process of saving toward financial goals, people can get off track and need somebody to point them in the right direction. This is especially important with couples because each person in the relationship may get off track at different times, which will require a gentle reminder from their money coach (as opposed to that reminder coming from the other person in the relationship).
A Scapegoat. One thing we hear from our couple clients is that Dr. Budgets comes up often when they make financial decisions. Before they decide to blow their dining out budget on an expensive meal, one person will ask “What would Dr. Budgets say?!” It may sound funny, but it starts a conversation that neither person may want to initiate (but know they should!). After working with a money coach for a short while it becomes easier to start conversations about money, but until then we are happy to be the scapegoat.
A Resource. If you were to get an unexpected bonus or other source of income, would you know what you should do with it? Maybe you know what you want to do with it! Our clients come to us with questions about “extra” money all the time. They find it helpful to have some guidance so they don’t spend it on something that is not in line with their goals, or contrary to what their other half thinks they should do with it!
A “Numbers Guy.” Numbers make sense to us – we can categorize your spending and show you exactly where your money is going. But not everybody loves numbers as much as we do! Clients enjoy the clarity that comes with having their spending categorized because it removes the uncertainty of their spending – there’s no more “I think we spent $200 a month on dining out” because we can show them exactly how much they spent.
A Neutral Third Party. People spend money differently, and oftentimes different types of spenders get married 🙂 One person in the relationship might frequently buy clothes and shoes so their partner thinks that they are the reason for their dwindling bank account (or mounting debt) – and it’s easy to point that finger! Until we sit down and look at the numbers and learn that the finger-pointer may be contributing to debt just as much as his/her partner. He/She might not make frequent purchases but will drop a couple of thousand dollars on a new entertainment system. Your money coach will never judge – we simply bring awareness to your spending and put you on the right path to achieve your goals.
As you know by now, we LOVE helping my clients achieve their goals. When we work with clients, our focus is helping them achieve their goals, but sometimes having a money coach does even more than help to get them out of debt or save for a house. Money is the number one thing couples fight about, but when you’re talking about money and working together to save for financial goals, it’s one fewer thing to fight about! We’ve heard from so many of our couple clients that they’re talking about money – some for the first time ever! And, that makes us especially happy here at Dr. Budgets!. If you know a couple who could benefit from working with a money coach, please have them click here to schedule a complimentary consultation.