Budget

Looking for name change advice or some tips for newlywed life? The MissNowMrs experts have created state-specific name change articles and checklists for you. We’ve chronicled our recommendations for how to travel while changing your name AND how to handle voting during the transition.

We’ve also compiled our best guidance for how to handle difficult sister in laws, holidays as newlyweds, the ever-annoying baby questions, and much more. Why? Because, while we are name change experts, we’re also newlywed wives, moms, and sisters.

We hope our name change advice articles help smooth your transition to your new name, and a whole new phase of life. Congratulations and best wishes from the entire MissNowMrs team!

3 Newlywed Holiday Tips

Looking for newlywed holiday tips? Being newlyweds opens an entirely new life…a life together. Most of the time that is an amazing thing to explore. Occasionally newlywed life can be a little scary as you navigate two families and holiday expectations. The worst thing you can do is “go with the flow” and make everyone but yourselves happy. Your first holidays together and how you handle them with your family will set a precedent for the rest of your married lives. Read on for a few tips to make the holidays more comfortable as newlyweds.

Holiday Tip 1: Know what you want for “your” holiday
If you and your spouse never discuss what would make you individually and collectively happy over the holidays, you’re setting yourselves up for unhappiness. Understanding the key thing for each person that makes a holiday special and making sure you prioritize those two things is tangible goal you can set and work to achieve together. If you have made a holiday plan together, it will be easier to communicate with your families. Instead of stammering and somehow agreeing to a dinner you know your spouse will hate. You can say “We made a plan to spend Christmas Eve in front of the fire together as newlyweds.”

Holiday Tip 2: Set gift expectations
Even if you have been dating for years, marriage can change a person’s expectations around the holidays. Talk about setting a gift budget for each other and your families. You won’t lose the element of surprise, but you will mitigate the disaster of supremely mis-matched gifts and hurt feelings. Unsure what to get each other? Consider booking a trip or purchasing a gym membership together. Memories and good habits early on will influence your marriage for years to come!

Holiday Tip 3: You can’t do it all
As you are building your married relationship, you can be tempted to do everything possible to make your spouse, family, their family, and friends happy. Don’t, it’s a recipe for burnout. Take this holiday season as a time to reflect on who is important to you and spend time with them. Not everyone needs a gift. Sometimes a coffee, cocktail, or email is all you need to spread cheer and good will.

As you enter into the holiday season with your husband or wife…remember how blessed you are to be spending it with the person you love. Don’t forget to tell them, take pictures, make memories, and have fun! Happy holidays newlyweds!

Newlywed Budget Setting

There are many important things to discuss as newlyweds. But, among the most frequently mentioned is the issue of finances. Money can easily become the cause of major rifts in the relationship. Most people differ in opinions regarding how money should be spent, when it should be spent, and how much should be saved. The best thing that you can do for yourself, your bank account, and your relationship is to set aside time to do newlywed budget setting.

Don’t work side by side over the same piece of paper or the same computer screen. It is be better to go through the process individually and then compare notes. This serves two purposes. First, if one person overlooks a particular expense, the other is likely to think to add it. Secondly, it demonstrates how differently the two of you look at income, expenses, and the percentage to be saved versus that to be spent.

Newlywed Budget Creation Tips

First, create four columns – two for income and the others for expenditures. For each, there is a column for bills or income sources to be listed and the other is for the associated figures to be entered. At the end of the columns, the figures can be summed. Do be sure to take into account gross versus net pay. You won’t want to determine your budget based on gross pay because a large percentage is taken out for taxes each pay period. If you are not sure what the net value is, you can estimate is by multiplying the gross pay by 0.8.

Still a little lost? Check out newlywedfinances.com for more help with newlywed budget setting.

Comparing the total of the income column to the total of the expenses column will give you a clear picture of how much is left after the bills are paid. Consider figuring this as a monthly, weekly, and daily value. This way, you will know what you have to spend each day. At that point, you can figure out how much should be put into savings. Then compare your figures with your spouse’s until you can come to an agreement. Finally, you can create a firm and realistic budget.

Sticking to this schedule, you will know exactly how much there is to spend each day. And, you will know that you are always on the same page as your spouse. Hooray for a workable newlywed budget!

Do you and your spouse have a budget? Was it difficult to come up with one or are you wishing you had one? We’d love to get your feedback on newlywed budget setting.