Tales of a Newlywed: Hitting the Target

When asked if I would guest blog, I was asked to share insight on things engaged people should know but were never told. Every engaged couple knows that they will have to deal with their financial differences and hopefully they’ve done that long before saying “I do.” But what I will share todayis that it’s not an easy transition and I, for one, put it off as long as I could.

I, like most women, love shopping. I love going to a store and finding things that I didn’t remember or didn’t even realize that I needed. I get a thrill even shopping at the grocery store. My husband, on the other hand, is a bit more practical in his spending decisions. I’m told this is a good thing to have in our relationship – you know, creating balance.

Every couple needs to have the discussion at some point about what they will do with their finances. Do they keep them separate? Do they merge them? Do they keep shared and separate accounts? For better or worse, we ultimately decided to merge all our finances. You know, because our spending habits are all balanced and stuff! Well, I’m going to tell you, balanced or not, shopping will never be the same.

I LOVE Target. I can spend hours and hundreds of dollars at Target. You can find everything there. But my love for Target has been compromised by my shared banking account with my husband. Now every purchase is scrutinized, always forcing me to reconsider everything in my basket before checking out. Now, I’m all for what’s mine is yours. I fully agree with that. But I miss the days I could check out at Target without sadly taking out my would-be new swim suit from my shopping cart.

But I suppose that’s what’s meant by the balance being a good thing for the relationship – we have savings, which, I’ll admit I was bad at before. And we’re saving now for a house or an amazing vacation or whatever we want. So there you have it – talking finances sucks. Sharing finances only sucks when at the Target checkout line. But it’s worth it.

And if you find its not, heed this advice (shared with me by a fellow Target addict): by Target gift cards at the grocery store so your Target purchases get disguised in your grocery bill. Admittedly, I’ve not tried this but I suppose I might should I decide that swim suit is worth it – maybe when we book our vacation with that savings money.

Love,
Mrs.