Becoming Your Family's Chief Financial Officer - Part 1

As I said yesterday, talking about money is not the highlight of any conversation in a marriage. But in my opinion it is one of the most important. This is actually a topic that should be gone over before marriage to make sure you both are on the same page. Finances are also something that should be talked about often and in depth.

I quit my job one week before Drew and I got married to become a stay-at-home-wife/mom full time. I didn't make a lot of money but it set us at a pretty comfortable level. We had what we needed and most of what we wanted -a house, 2 vehicles, a boat...etc. The decision for me to stay at home was one we discussed a lot. We wanted to make sure that we would still be okay financially going from two incomes to one. At this point Drew took care of most of the financial stuff. I had a little say in what went one but for the most part it was all his. It worked for us for awhile too.

There came a point though when we weren't that "comfortable" anymore. We were going through a custody case for his children, driving to 2 different schools that were 20 minutes apart 2 times a day, taking my step-daughter to speech, physical and occupational therapy 2 times a week an hour away...you get the idea. A lot of money was going out with just barely enough coming in to make it all work. We knew it was time to re-evaluate our financial situation and make some necessary changes. This is also about the time that Drew asked me to take over the finances since I was at home and knew more about what was going out.

It was not an easy job to take on. Quite a few times I wanted to hand it back over to him but I knew how overwhelmed and stressed he was with all of the custody stuff so I did what had to be done to keep him happy!! For the last 3 1/2 years the role of Chief Financial Officer for our family has been mine. I discuss everything with Drew but the final decisions are always his.

When I started this "job" I didn't have much knowledge on frugal living but I knew it was something we needed to master and set out to find all the information I could. Enter Google Search and I was like a kid in a candy shop with all the wealth of information I was finding. I went through notebook after notebook taking notes, writing out recipes, and coming up with my own ideas. I'm sure Drew probably thought I was crazy when I would sit him down at night and tell him everything I found that day!

There have definitely been ups and downs with our finances and we are still learning as we go. The most important factor in all of it is that you and your husband have to be in agreement on the way your finances are conducted. It's vital to stay on the same page together and pull your weight where needed. Talking money doesn't have to be stressful or cause problems in your marriage if you don't want it to. Following a little routine and keeping organized will make it so much better!!

Come back tomorrow where I will be sharing about setting up a budget and helping you to stick to it!!

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