Getting married is a wonderful thing and brings forth a whole new life together as a couple. Part of being married means working together as a team in all aspects of our lives– physically, spiritually, emotionally and also financially. Indeed, the matters of finance and debt have caused much disagreements and breakups amongst married couples. Thus, it is always important to have mutual agreement, openness and correlation between the husband and wife in matters concerning finance.
The major area of concern when it comes to finances is the area related to personal debt, especially credit card debt. Many couples go into a marriage without being aware of the debt of their fiancées. Indeed, although debt is a personal burden while you are single, married couples will eventually have to face the problem of debt together after they are married. This can cause stress in a marriage, which is why 70% of divorces in America are caused by financial issues.
It's best to exercise sound planning towards consolidated finances after the marriage. This means that you should try to clear any outstanding debt that you may have before you are married. Bringing these into the marriage may mean asking your spouse to bear for a debt that he or she didn't get into in the first place. Cancel credit cards that are charging high interests and leave one or two that offer favorable rates. You can always inform the credit card companies that you are getting married and are looking into closing some of your accounts.
The best ways to clear your credit card debt is by planning your monthly expenses and budget an amount each month to pay off your debt. You may transfer some of your outstanding balances to 0% APR card to lighten your burden while you pay with monthly installments. Also, don't charge any more expenses to your credit cards unless really necessary, as these will just increase the debt value that you are trying hard to pay off.
Apart from that, the both of you may also want to cross-check your credit reports so that any discrepancies can be sorted out as soon as possible. If you do this now, you will help to prevent disagreements later on which may arise from debt which you and your spouse had no knowledge of.
After your credit card debt is cleared, strike a mutual agreement between the both of you on the type of expenses that should be charged to credit cards and those that should be paid with cash. Also, be sure that the both of you understand that credit card balances should be paid off each month. Another alternative is to have your credit cards issued under separate names even after you are married so that any credit problems will not affect your spouse's credit standing.
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