So, what do you do now? Promise yourself your will no longer live stupid. Promise yourself you will no longer make someone else wealthy, your the only one who deserves to be wealthy. Promise yourself you will no longer allow your emotions and your money to control you. Don't let commercials, advertising, clever marketing or anything or anyone for that matter ever tell you how to spend your money again. It's your money, take control of it!
One important to note here for couples, it is very important for the both of you to make this commitment together. Do it now! One of you cannot do it alone, you both have to do it together and be completely committed. The income a couple has belongs to both of you, as do the debts, its hers and his, not 'mine' - never ever. Not only is the money both of yours so is the debt, and both of you have to give up things if you ever want to live debt free so you can build wealth. If either of you cheat or are in any way dishonest, you will both fail, together.
I knew a family where the husband and wife each had a chequebook but they never got together to reconcile their bank statement each month. They never tracked what they had, more essentially, they never tracked what they spent individually. They spent themselves into a life of disappointment and became alienated from their sons, throwing money at them in place of love and emotional support. After their sons had graduated from high school they got a divorce. He still continues to live as if, as long as he has checks in the checkbook he writes them, even if there wasn't enough money to cover the check. She on the other hand began to get her life together and is doing better. By the way, one of the sons got the hell out of dodge while the other is a total loser, drug user and sells the stuff too, following in daddy's footsteps. That's all we need, another waste of a life.
Don't make the same mistake, if you have children and I don't care how old they are, sit them down as soon as you can, don't delay, and help them through these very same steps. Better yet, have them subscribe to this newsletter if they are legally old enough. (Have to say that because it seems I can't teach children about financial matters or how to balance a check book or keep a budget unless they are old enough. Go figure, no wonder our society is so messed up.) You can even start children as soon as they can count on how to keep a simple budget - allowance and purchases.
Let go of past mistakes and move onto taking control of your finances. From this day forward promise each other, yourself, to not bring up things from the past, instead learn to forgive and begin working together. After all, wealth is better than being a debt slave for the rest of your life. Making financial decisions together will hold both accountable. Agreed to discuss any significant purchases and never jumping right in, unless it is a real emergency like the pipes just burst and the basement is flooding.
Agree that only exception to this rule will be your own personal spending amounts which needs to be allocated in your budget. This is a great way to start in order to maintain financial accountability with each other at the same time avoiding taking advantage of this freedom.
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