I get so many questions about how to manage your finances as a couple and how to work on paying off debt as a couple.
In honor of our six-month anniversary, I wanted to interview Joe so you can hear more about his perspective on our journey. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I manage our finances and I am definitely the one obsessed with our finances. I thought it would be beneficial (and fun) for you to hear from Joe to get his thoughts on our debt free journey, how we started, how marriage is going, and anything else he wanted to share. All responses are Joe’s and they are unedited and unfiltered.
What is one thing you learned in our 6 months of marriage?
Marriage is highly underrated. It is cool to have a responsibility to take care of someone for life. (Alli: I tried to get a better or more elaborate response but this is all I got.)
How did you feel about money before we combined finances?
I didn’t spend much time on it. It seemed like a negative thing in my life, so I didn’t focus on it. Not everyone has an Alli in their corner. It is hard to pay off debt without support.
How did you feel about our first budget meeting?
I felt like I dragged you into this because you were on the positive side of money and I was on the negative side of money. I don’t feel like we need monthly budget meetings. We have goals to reach and we just figure out how to reach them. I don’t worry about our monthly budget. Our goals aren’t monthly so I like just talking about our goals.
How do you feel about me managing our finances?
It’s kinda like how we just painted the house. You suck at painting, so I painted. I suck at money, so you manage it. When you’re married, you contribute the things you are good at. You are good with money so you should manage it. It doesn’t bother me that you manage our finances.
Do you feel like it’s our debt or do you still feel like it’s your debt?
Well it’s my debt. I feel like I am costing us with our debt. It is hard. We would be able to do so much more right now if we didn’t have my debt. It is a team effort to take care of the debt. I don’t think you will ever hold it over me for the rest of my life. You never have. We pay it off as a team because we’re a family. Years from now it will be much better since we handle it as a team.
Do you think we talk about money enough?
Yes. We talk about money all the time. We have goals we want to reach.
What do you think of our debt free journey so far?
It is pretty overwhelming. It is hard because there was no point in me going into that much debt. I could have gotten my current job without school. I am better at working than I was at school. I never thought it would be easy to pay off debt, but we’ve come a long way in a short period of time. There is an end and now I can see that.
What is one thing you learned about money since meeting me?
Unplanned expenses are budget killers. You turned me into a planner. I am not a spontaneous spender anymore and I like it that way.
Anything else you want to share or want people to know about me?
It might appear to some people that you don’t like to spend money, but you do. You like to spend on things that we planned for and things that we value. You are kind of a hard ass in the beginning, but you are a softy. Even though you are a crazy at games (Alli: he means basketball and football), I like that you like sports. You yell and say things at games, I am just crazy inside. You are very loud.
How do you and your spouse handle finances? What works for you?
