Why You Need to Be Honest with Your Spouse About Family Finances

I am not a relationship expert and don't play one on television. I am, however, happily married to a wonderful man, who doesn't have a clue how to balance a checkbook.

The purpose of this article is to stress the importance of sharing in a relationship, both the good and the bad.

I write this on the heals of a heated argument with my spouse about money. Apparently it turns out that, according to WomenOf.com, "Money is the number one culprit in marital misunderstandings." Don't we know it.

I dug a little deeper on this topic and found that according to Bellaonline.com, "When you and your spouse fight nine chances out of ten the fight has something to do with money. More fights in marriage are caused by money disputes than by any other issues." Money is at the heart of so many problems.

So how do you and your spouse step away from this never ending battle of financial wits? Honesty. You need to have complete and total honesty when it comes to money plain and simple.

First thing you want to do to establish this new relationship about money is to figure out how much you actually have, or more then likely don't have. You need to add up all of your assets as well as all of your debits. Do not hide anything. if you have a credit card that just has your name on it, now is the time to disclose that.

Once you have a firm grasp on what your financial situation is now is the time to talk openly and honestly about how you feel about it. does one partner feel the other spends to much? Are you shocked that your spouse has a credit card which he owes $1000 or so on that you didn't know about. Are you wonder how your joint checking account never seems to stay in the positive.

So you have a record of all of your credits and debits, and you have talked about how you feel when it comes to each others spending habits, not what?