Managing household finances is a difficult task and if mismanaged may even cause household separation. Many would lie and hide from their partners expensive purchases they made. Worse, many couples would hide money from each other by having secret savings accounts or even a retirement account. For the marriage to be successful, dishonesty and secrecy in the management of household finances need to be eliminated.

There are several key steps to a better financial management for married women:

Set financial goals together with your spouse and determine your priorities. Work out a budget agreeable to all parties. Review your expenses of say, the past 6 months‘ and determine how much of your income is spent and how much saved. Failing to reach your target savings rate, you discuss and agree with your spouse which expenses will be trimmed down to meet saving goal.

Get your priorities right by spending first on the basics only. Every activity in the house would have potential for cost saving. You have to be practical, realistic, and ready to let go extra fat in your budget list. If budgeting and prioritizing are done right, you can include some budget for fun and recreational activities so you don‘t start to think that your married life has become boring.

Many couples spend too much, way beyond what they can afford. Too much borrowing can put your finances in danger. The more debt you incur the more difficult it will be for you to crawl your way back. Incurring debt may be unavoidable but you should keep your overall debt re-payments at manageable levels always. Total debt re-payments should not be more 30% of your net pay. Prepare a spending plan, which is a simple way of writing down the various items that you need to spend on. The regular monthly expenses and other necessities you need have such as mortgage payments, groceries, water and electricity bills and others are firsts in the list. Next in the list are the non-essentials that you want to have if budget allows.

You should not waver to repay your debt soonest possible. By doing so, interests charged on your debt will not pile up. You do not want to come a point where your salaries are barely enough to pay for the interests incurred.

Pay particular attention to your credit cards debts because of the high interest being charged. Limit also the number of cards that you and your spouse use.

If you have significant credit card bills already, stop using your cards, at least temporarily. You don‘t want to add more debt until you have paid the previous ones. Prepare and implement a credit payment schedule for your cards with the view to pay off all your outstanding debt faster. Start paying those purchases with the highest interests.

Start saving the soonest you can for your emergency fund. It takes some discipline to set aside a portion of your paycheck each month. An emergency fund is there to meet any contingencies. An emergency fund worth 3 to 6 months of your household expenses is deemed sufficient. A good way to save for your emergency fund would be to have your money automatically deposited into a savings account from your paycheck.

You invest in company-sponsored retirement plans like the 401k, if offered. Maximize your participation to get the full company match.

To live a reasonably comfortable life during retirement, you need to save about 10 percent of your gross income if you start saving in your 20‘s, and about 15 percent if you start in your 30‘s. Maintaining life insurance is an essential part of a financial management for married women. Your life insurance provides protection and cushion against accidents and illnesses that could disrupt your work or business and your capacity to earn. You can check out the details at this link for a more comprehensive explanation. You may also ask your husband to choose among the 57 year old male life insurance choices to keep your family secured.

If you don‘t have insurance yet, try to check out Rooftin. They can make getting life insurance for different ages so much easier. Make sure to visit their website for additional information.

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