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Have you ever been canoeing with someone? Woah, is that a make it or break it relationship!? If you’re not paddling in sync with your partner it’s hard to get anywhere. And if only one of you is paddling it makes the journey that much harder.

Trying to budget in a marriage is a lot like paddling a canoe. If you’re not rowing in the same direction you won’t get where you want to go.

But why are regular budget meetings so important?

1. Because without a purpose, it’s pointless

It’s really important to sit down with your spouse and discuss what your financial priorities are. Why are you budgeting? Why are you trying to save money? What do you want to see long-term in your financial picture? It’s key to sit down and discuss the why behind it all and make sure you agree on your main goals. Of course, you and your husband might have a few goals that are specific to you as individuals, but if your bigger goals don’t line up that is something you will need to work out if your budget is going to work.

2. Because your spouse doesn’t read minds

You can’t blame your spouse for spending money in a category if you didn’t discuss it to begin with. For example, I got this question this week on my YouTube channel.

What do you when you're first starting your budget and then your spouse decides to take the family out to dinner? I didn't plan for it.

My answer to that viewer was pretty simple.
Are you including your spouse in your budget meetings? That's the only way he would know that you didn't budget to go out.

You can’t just make a budget, stick it up on the fridge and say “this is how we’re living now.” That’s not fair. The two of you will need to come to an understanding if you’re ever going to make things work.

3. Because you need accountability

Did I tell you I bought too many books on Amazon last month? Yeah, I did. And while I will read all of them and probably enjoy them, I got a smidgen carried away. Jason had to tell me to simmer down. He was nice about it, but if I didn’t have that accountability I would be less quick to change my ways.

On the other hand, my husband is super generous. And while I love giving, I do have to reel him in sometimes because we do have kids we have to feed.

Of course, there are many, many reasons to have a regular budget meeting and this list is just scratching the surface.

What about you? Do you have regular budget meetings?

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