How do you make financial decisions as a couple? In church environments, there tends to be the idea that one partner gets to decide how to spend the money and takes control of finances. While there may be a primary point person, it is a partnership. Couples should make decisions together.
My wife has an exceptional eye for property and is skilled at negotiating. She defers to me with retirement planning. That’s the spirit of finances in marriage: you find each other’s strengths. Today’s guests are a young couple, Nick and Kelsey Burns. In this episode of Upthinking Finance™, we have a conversation about navigating finances as a young couple.
Neither Nick nor Kelsey had any financial literacy training going into their marriage. They had to figure things out as they went. Kelsey is the more financially independent of the two. She’s held a job since she was 14 and always paid her own bills.
Kelsey was a waitress, so she always had cash. Nick also had a steady income with a company vehicle and full benefits. The hardest transition was when he quit that job to pursue his passion. They weren’t making money and had to figure out how to survive.
When Kelsey found out he had quit, she was shocked but not totally surprised because she knew he wasn’t feeling fulfilled. She was happy he was going after his passion, but they had to figure out their finances quickly.
Kelsey was raised to take the safe and secure route. So Kelsey picked up double shifts so they could pay for their basic necessities. Kelsey went into survival mode and worked 9–5 jobs that she didn’t find fulfilling.
Nick and Kelsey have always agreed that they would avoid debt in their marriage. They barely used their credit card and if they did it was only on purchases they knew they could pay off. They adjusted their lifestyle and lowered their cost of living whenever it was necessary.
They had a mutual understanding that if things got bad, Nick would have to look for more stable work. Things were tight 99% of the time but they figured it out. They were not going to get in debt to chase their dreams.
What happened that caused them to switch gears? How did the culture they grew up in influence their decision-making? Listen to hear the full story!
Kelsey had created a relationship with developers and worked directly with many of them throughout her work. She was given the opportunity to become the realtor on a massive development. Kelsey could’ve made a lot of money. She was hungry and excited about the prospect.
But she started evaluating her life. She’s always been a workaholic. She saw herself getting addicted to the lifestyle. She feared she’d never see Nick, her family, and her friends. They already rarely saw her in her current position. She questioned if they’d start a family.
She turned down the opportunity (and stayed on good terms with the developers). Kelsey may still do interior design work with them in the future. Ultimately, she chose everything else that she’d been neglecting. She graduates from a coaching program next week as a Holistic Health and Spirituality practitioner. She gets to incorporate fitness, nutrition, and spirituality into
