The old cliche rings true still and always will. There are many ways to try and earn money, but there just as many ways to lose money. Those “tight wads” we see who are rolling in cash, yet never seem to spend any of it, are all around us – but they’re usually quiet.

These folks understand the savings game implicitly. Although most of us will never be that cheap, we can still learn alot from our family member or neighbor who is burdened with the tag “tight wad”.

I certainly don’t fall into the ranks of the frugal spender, but I’m hoping to be there someday. After all, I come from parents who had to be frugal, knew how to save, knew how to balance needs and wants – and now they are reaping the rewards in a very comfortable retirement. If you have ever read the book, The Millionaire Next Door, or perhaps The Wealthy Barber; those books come very close to describing my parents. The one thing those books and example don’t seem to address is who you marry or who your cohabitant is.

I believe that who you choose to live with, partner with, or share your bed and food with, will make the largest impact on your bank balance. We’ve all seen friends, family members, and foes alike, that collect fat paychecks every month, yet their line of credit is maxed out, their overdrafts are deep, and their credit card interest payments every month would give Old Man Scrooge a massive coronary. 

 *******be right back….gotta have breakfast*******

Ok….bacon and eggs….can’t beat it. So back to our couple above with the massive debt and over-extended life. Many couples like these consist of two people who live for the day, spend all their money, and then continue to spend other peoples money. (the bank’s money) Then again some of these families have children who are spoiled beyond belief, as one, or both, of the parents shower them with every thing they desire.

Sometimes one of the partners will be responsible with money, and the other is a complete train wreck with a credit card, overdraft, or red hot check book. The frugal partner will skrimp and save trying to keep their finances in order, as the other one sneaks off to the mall, motorcycle parts store, golf store, or whatever - and rack up hundreds of more dollars on the Visa or Mastercard. Before you know their personal finances are a complete mess and often the marriage is doomed.

When we all know that main cause of divorce is due to finances, and we know that over 50% of marriages fail, we can draw some basic conclusions. Too many people don’t have the slightest sense of financial responsibility. Now reading this you may think that I’ve been a “tight wad” all my life, and you would be wrong, because I claimed personal bankruptcy 7 years ago. Yep, I had a spouse who spent like crazy, and as soon as I realized we were going to be way over our head in debt, I through in the towel and spent like crazy person as well. Classic. Divorce was inevitable. (thank god) 

After my own experience and than later tracing back the years my parents have been together, I began noticing other couples and how they handle their finances together. The key factor is together. When most people choose a mate, partner, or spouse, they make choices based on warm fuzzy feelings they get from spending time with each other. That’s all swell, but it’s very important to look closely at your possible future partner’s spending habits.

Don’t look so much at their earning habits, because that can change in a heart-beat. Take a good close look at their ability to maintain a balanced bank account. I’m not for a minute suggesting choose a partner based on their ability to handle money – I’m saying that if all other factors such as physical attraction, emotional conviction, love, friendship, and companionship, are all there (and they better be or else you’re better off alone) you need to take a good look at how you handle money together. If one of you is a financial train wreck, don’t do it. Don’t get married, and start bouncing out kids. You’ll regret it.

I’m happy to say that in my case there was a happy ending. My second marriage of 6 happy years has been a team-effort from the get-go and we both keep our eyes on the finances together. It really helps to a have team unit in all respects, whether it be financial or othewise. So when Mom says, “Shop Around”, listen to her.
 
Anyway……gotta run….have to go to the mall and buy 300 scratch and wins

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 6th, 2006 at 8:58 am and is filed under Personal Finances. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.