Budgeting As A Married Couple
October 24th, 2007 @ 3:36 pm by Mrs. Apple
Now that Mr. Apple and I are hitched, we’re really trying to budget as a married couple. Budgeting was easier when I was single since I knew what I was bringing in and what items I was spending on. But now that we’re married, everything doubles up - the food expense, the traveling expense, the income (yeah!). We have our own separate accounts, and we also have a joint account, a shared credit card, our personal debt, and future investments. Though we think we have a good handle on our current financial situation, it wouldn’t hurt to narrow it down to exact figures. Every penny does count!
Anyone have any good suggestions on software for MACs and Windows?
I think this would be great information for those brides who are still in the engagement stage as well. You can get started now and it will be an easier transition when you do get married. 
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17 Responses to “Budgeting As A Married Couple”
Mr. Radish deals with our money (I just like to spend it) and he LOVES to use Quicken.
You can get it for macs too.
try http://www.mint.com - it’s web based, secure and really helpful
no advice- but good job on the open communication.
I bought quicken - but fall back on my custom spreadsheets I’ve used for years I need to commit to making the change and learning all the functionality of quicken - but my custom methods don’t seem to exactly fit into the application.
Along the lines of budgeting and finances - My new hubby and I just completed Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class. It’s was a great learning experience. Even if you don’t agree with everything he says, follow all his principles, or share his religion (it does have a Christian background) - it is an excellent course to attend with your finance or husband. He touches on a lot of things that I feel are overwhelming for new couples. (finances, debt, insurance (life, disability, etc), retirement, college saving, identity theft protection, wills etc) It has us on track together and super excited for our life together knowing we won’t be stressing or fighting over finances! It is peaceful knowing you have all the bases covered. I recommend it!
Oh yeah - I don’t use this site - but hear rave reviews from others… it’s web 2.0 and free.
Mint.com or Google spreadsheets! Mint is more fancy, but with Google spreadsheets we have full control and both of us have access to edit contents.
Great questions. My new husband and I are using Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover book. It’s been a blessing. I was recently layed off and got hit with a $2000 car repair bill in the same week. Thanks to the advice in the book, we are able to pay our bills while I look for the right job for me.
DR also has a daily syndicated radio show and a TV show on the Fox Business Network weeknights.
My dad has used Quicken for years. He got me hooked and I carried the use over to my marriage. In my opinion it’s worth investing in the software.
http://www.moneycenter.yodlee.com
It’s a very secure site, that allows you to view all of your online accounts together. Not only do you get an overview of your checking, credit cards, 401k and savings, it does cool charts and graphs so you can see where all the money is going. It’s a perfect way to keep track of all our income and expenses, without having to re-enter every purchase or bill on a spreadsheet.
QUICKEN. most quicken users swear by it - you can track every single/joint account you have, every credit card, every student loan, every expense by category or by payee, every investment, just everything. its simple, it imports your data directly from the site so you dont have to do the legwork - whereas with my personal excel sheet i had to write in everything! you can create schedules, monthly bills, budget way into the future, etc.
it is worth the expense. obviously i am a fan =)
If you go to Microsoft Word online, they have a bunch of budget templates that are customizable. It’s especially nice for those in excel, since they have all the coding done. I also recommend keeping track of your net worth. My FI and I have been doing this and it’s great encouragement to keep spending to a minimum.
Great post, Mrs. Apple! Mr. Dahlia and I have been talking about how to better manage our finances, and haven’t been able to come up with a solution. I’m going to mention mint.com to him tonight.
we use quicken and swear by it. there is a lot of functionality but you can “start simple” with the basics and as you get use to start to use more of the “bells and whistles.”
We use quicken. I used to hate it, but FH showed me how to use it- he used to be the major money party in our relationship, but now using quicken, I am… 
There is a budget feature, a check register, even a pay down credit plan (to work on those student loans or credit cards!!). It connects with the internet to download transactions from your online banking system and you accept them into your register. You give each item a catagory (utilities, rent, clothing, dining, entertainment, etc). We love it because you also can make pie charts and what not to see exactly where and what you are spending your money on month to month. Seeing that pie chart to show you that you are spending a fat chunk of $$ on something (other than wedding stuff) definately helps to reel that spending back in. At least it does for FH and I!
QUICKEN
I’ve been using quicken for…6 years, 7? A couple months after we got engaged, I added all of his accounts to my quicken so we could start tracking everything (we had already been living together for a year). With all of the wedding expenses, it was really important for us to know what our money was doing. We’ve opened a joint checking/savings account together, so it’s really helping us visualize our financial goals.
http://www.GetRichSlowly.org (and it’s forum) has some really good articles on different ways to track your finances on a PC or a Mac
I gotta second (or third?) Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University. DH and I are totally geared up and excited about our financial future. In fact, we just recently celebrated becoming completely debt-free! It is our goal to never incur any debt except for a house, and have that paid off in 15 years. Being of one accord with our financial goals has brought us that much closer!
Mrs. Apple, Dallas
Age and Occupation in '07: 28, Entrepreneur
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Police Officer
Engagement Date: Easter Day 2006
Wedding Date: May 27, 2007
Blogging Since: September 28, 2006
Venue: Marie Gabrielle Restaurant & Gardens
About Me: I'm in the midst of trying to plan a "perfectly beautiful" wedding and decorating my new home. It's been exhausting but totally worth every minute of it. Ironically, I was never the type of person to want to get married but now that I'm engaged, I get giddy over anything that is wedding related! I'll try my best to give you all unique and practical ideas.
I love MS Money…. not sure if it works on Macs, but it is so helpful for me to keep track of various accounts + budgeting!