One of many favorite things about being single is financial freedom. When you don’t have someone else depending on you, it’s amazing how much “stuff” we can accumulate. We can buy what we want when we want. And as long as our immediate necessities are met, we can basically live with very little sense of responsibility. The issue with this is that it becomes easy to develop bad habits around our financial responsibility. We want to mold ourselves to truly be a “better half” when we enter into a serious relationship.
Here are some quick tips to remember as we develop sound financial habits:
Budgeting: It’s important to put your income and expenses on paper every month. Seeing where your money goes give you control. When we don’t budget, we don’t manage our money which gives away the power we have over how we use our funds.
Savings: An emergency fund should be funded for 6 months of expenses in an accessible account. Contribute to your company’s 401k to build retirement savings. The earlier you start, the more interest you will accrue to thoroughly fund your 401k. Set aside specific savings for large purchases like vacations, cars, Christmas funds, etc.
Spending: Our budget should account for things such as clothing, gas, car maintenance, food, expected doctor visits, replacing equipment (like a computer or cell phone), toys for the kids, café visits, etc. We can save a lot of guilt and buyer’s remorse when we plan how we spend.
Giving: Most of us want to give to certain causes, charities and often our places of worship. Giving will give you the most pleasure of all of the things you do with your budget when you get to impact someone’s life in a positive manner.Every budget should have a line item for giving.
Credit: Your credit score is comprised of the data on your previous account histories.Learn how to build your score. Lower your account balances. Stay on time with your payments.Don’t get overextended on debt (no debt is always better).Track your credit score.You can order one free credit report per year from annualcreditreport.com.
Taxes: Learning to manage your tax burden is one of the most important keys to building wealth. Tax laws update each year.Find a knowledgeable tax professional or accountant. Get in the habit of keeping receipts for purchases. Work with your tax professional to learn how to minimize your tax burden during the year.
Communication: Work with good financial counselors and coaches to learn to make wise financial decisions.Learning to talk about money when while you are still single. Personal finance and wealth building thrive in relationships when we have open communication.
am a lady aged 22 was once in a relationship for over four years. We broke up about a year ago but cant get over him and its affecting my recent relationship. What can i do.
Kristin, in some way, he wasn’t meeting your needs or other things were happening that caused your relationship to end. Getting over someone after a relationship can be tough. We often need time to grieve and that means different things for each of us. I hope you allowed yourself that time and space to grieve the relationship and then let it go. If you have that closure and are done grieving, it’s time to move on. Does the new person make you happy? Is he meeting your needs and expectations? If you are fulfilled in your new relationship, you want to make that your focus and not things from your past. Work on building something great in this new relationship. In the moments you think of the old relationship, remember why you left and remember what you have now. Then decide what is really important to you. Thanks for the comment.