What a great book for engaged and newly married couples. Matt walks you through how women and men think differently about money and how culture, your family of origin and temperament also come into effect. There’s advice in here from investing to purchasing life insurance to managing debt to giving money. There are also convenient checklists and guidelines. One checklist in particular would be a helpful starting point for newlyweds who are too stressed or occupied to think about contacting the social security administration, employer, bank, DMV, etc.
The appendix has monthly spending guidelines for one or two-person households and according to income. You may disagree with the figures, but remember, they are guidelines. You can spend less in one area and more in another. It just serves as a visual of budgeting. I can’t picture my fiance or myself budging on not having internet at home, just as his grandfather, whom we also live with, would never consider getting rid of cable TV. Though we all have cell phones, I like the idea of having a phone and therefore, our cable internet/TV/phone package deal is approximately $175/month! To put that into perspective, that’s $2,100 a year on just those expenses alone.
On that note, I would like to share my email to Matt along with his reply:
Hi Matt!
I wanted to share a few words with you about your book. (I will definitely follow up with a blog review at a later date.) Though my fiance and I would not be considered “newly engaged,” we certainly appreciate the information you have shared in Money & Marriage. We are very good at discussing major purchases with each other and we already share credit and bank accounts. I’m also happy to report that we have never even considered the prenup option, though you make a very valid point when and if there are children from a previous marriage.
Regarding credit, I was wondering if you were aware of the CreditKarma website. It allows you to check your TransRisk credit score, which is generated from TransUnion, for free. I thought this would be a useful resource to share. If you already know about this site, I would love to hear your feedback on it.
It was very interesting to know the different approaches men and women had about money. I was laughing with my fiance because I guess I’m a little different from the statistical norm. I’m actually the gagdet geek in the family! The one thing I struggled with in the book is how much we spend on cable and internet. Our monthly bill for cable internet, cable tv and house phone is approximately $175/mo. We are big MMO gamers and I use the internet heavily as a blogger and non-traditional college student. I’m experiencing a little bit of guilt!
What are your thoughts about donating time to your charity or church instead of money?
I believe your organizational tips, budgeting sheets, etc will be extremely useful. Thank you very much for sharing your wisdom. I know I will be making references to it throughout our relationship.
Wish us luck!
Roxanna 
Roxanna -
Thanks for your note and for taking the time to read “Money & Marriage. Let me try to answer some of your questions.
The credit score world has become a lot more complicated, with each bureau creating their own scores and Fair Isaac creating its own score. My understanding is that the score used by most lenders is the one created by Fair Isaac, so that’s why I recommend buying your score from them. The others, like what you can get from CreditKarma, may give you a sense as to how strong your score is, but I believe Fair Isaac’s FICO score is still the most reliable score.
Regarding you cable/internet bill, no need to feel guilty. Budgeting is not a one size fits all process. My guidelines are there to serve as benchmarks for people. If gaming is a big priority for you guys, that’s fine. Of course, that means you’ll need to spend less than I recommend in some other category. It’s about trading off a lesser priority for a higher priority.
As for donating time vs. money, it’s ideal to do both. Biblically speaking, I don’t know of anywhere that it says give one OR the other. Unless a person is truly unable to provide the essentials for themselves or their family, I think we’re all called to give generously of our financial resources.
I hope that helps. Thanks again, Roxanna.
Matt
Matt Bell
Personal Finance Writer/Speaker
Disclaimer: I was sent both a pdf and paperback copy of this book to review. Thanks to NavPress Publishing Group and Litfuse Publicity Group, who provided me the free copies. All opinions are my own.
This post was written by
Roxy – who has written 622 posts on The Jolly Blogger.
Roxy is a full-time, first-generation college student. She loves blogging because it is a creative outlet that allows her to take breaks from academic writing. She lives with her daughter and fiancé in beautiful Southern Oregon on their "mini-farm" with their 4 cats, chickens, and rabbits.
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