Before people get married they rarely talk about their finances, they usually avoid the topic. Avoiding the topic will usually only result in fights later one when certain things come out. For example, if one of you is a saver and the other is a spender after you get married problems can arise because of the different financial plans that the two of you have. Alternatively, one person loves to balance the checkbook once a week or daily, while the other person does not enter anything into the checking book, which makes it impossible to balance.

Experts have long ago determined that money problems are the number one issue in marriages. One of the main reasons that it causes so many problems is that how you spend your money shows people what you value the most. One of the reasons that people fight over money is because we are always worried about taking care of ourselves, which involves needing money. Moreover, because of how little people trust each other in today's society there is even more problems with money coming up in marriages. This lack of trust has actually increased the number of prenuptial agreements that people are signing before marriage, but it is also increasing the number of couples who are maintaining separate checking accounts.

However, by managing your money in an agreeable way you will have a stronger marriage. The main reason for this is that when managing your money together you will not be fighting over money, which causes less tension in your marriage. Money management will also lead to trust in your marriage, there will be no need for separate checking accounts or prenuptial agreements.

Here are some money management tips that you and your spouse can follow to help make your marriage stronger.

Tip one:
Know what you have. One thing that people try to do is live beyond their means. So in order to make sure that you do not live beyond your means you need to know what your means are. To do this you will need to figure out how much money you really have. You want to take an inventory of all of the money that you have, not just the money in your purse or wallet. Count the money in piggy banks, bank accounts, any balances you have opened on credit cards, and money that you have on open lines of credit. Just keep in mind that when converting the open balances on credit cards or lines of credit into cash it will decrease your spending power because you are going to need to pay it back to the creditors.

Tip two:
Together you will need to set a money management goal. When setting a goal you are going to want to start small, such as paying off credit cards or saving a certain amount of money by a certain date. Once you have obtained the goals you can move onto setting larger goals for yourselves.

Tip three:
You need to track your income for one month. One thing you can do is add up all of your paycheck stubs for one month and divide them to see what your average income is. However, the best method to figure out your average income is to add up all of your paycheck stub's for a quarter year and then divide them by 13, which is the number of weeks in a quarter. The one thing that you want to avoid doing is simply multiplying your weekly wage by four to get your monthly income. The reason for this is that you will be omitting certain things that can affect the amount of money you get each month, such as sick days or extra income from holiday pay or overtime.

Tip four:
You need to figure out where all of your money is going. The best way to figure out where all of your money is going is to track what you are spending for one month; you want to write down everything that you are spending down to the penny. To do this you will need to get a notebook and pen that is small enough to carry with you. After each purchase that you make write down how much you spent and where you spent it, this includes stops at gas stations for a pack of gum or a drink. You also want to include all of the bills that you are paying in the notebook. This will give you a realistic outlook on how much you are spending compared to how much you are making.

Tip five:
When it comes to special occasions, such as birthdays or anniversaries you need to determine what a reasonable amount of money to spend on each other is. People most often have different ideas on what they consider a reasonable amount, so be sure you both agree. For example, if you think $100 is a reasonable amount and your spouse thinks $50 is reasonable, you can meet in the middle and spend $75. On the other hand, you can find non-monetary ways to celebrate the occasions.

Tip six:
Losing your job or even getting a promotion can cause money problems. The best way to handle unemployment or promotions is to plan your expenses and talk about your expenses with regular discussions. You will also need to adjust your lifestyle in certain cases, such as cutting back on unnecessary spending in cases of lay offs or saving more in cases of promotions. The key to this is talking about how you will handle all money matters and then following through with the plan.

Tip seven:
Having children will create even more money issues because of the extra expenses that they bring such as doctor's bills, food, clothing, and many others. This can cause problems because it can prevent your from achieving some of your financial goals. To help handle this problem the best thing that you can do is to budget your money, include emergency funds for doctors in your budget, and talk about your financial situation on a regular basis. You can also have your kids get a job and earn their own money once they are old enough to work, different states have different ages for work release so be sure to check with your state's labor department if you have any questions.

Tip eight:
Family holidays, vacations, or even weekend getaways can cause friction. The best thing to do is to plan ahead of time what you are going to be doing and save up your money. This will enable you to plan how much money you will be spending on doing certain things, and will help to ensure that you do not spend more than you have. Talk to your spouse about how you plan to travel, where you plan to stay, and other important issues before you go on vacation, this will help you get the best deals on rooms or tickets.

Tip nine:
If one of you has to pay alimony or child support, this can quickly drain your expenses as a couple, which will cause stress early on in your marriage. What you need to do is to accept the fact that your spouse has obligations from their previous marriage and it is important to uphold those obligations, no matter how much your do not agree with the amount. When budgeting, your money together make sure you count this as an expense, even if it is garnished from your spouse's wages.

Tip ten:
If you plan to make big purchases, such as a house or a car, sit down and talk about them beforehand. Look at the financial obligations that are going to be involved, such as down payments and monthly payments. Ask yourselves if this is something that you really want and need or is it just an impulse buy. Most impulse buys end up hurting a marriage or if you are not ready for the financial responsibility of owning a house, it can negatively affect your marriage. Sit down and talk about how you feel about making big purchases, many times people have problems because a big purchase solidifies the commitment that you have to one another.

Tip eleven:
Make sure that you understand how each of your feels about spending money. Some people are impulse buyers, while others would rather save money for a bigger purchase. Understand your spouse's habits, such as shopping when they are angry or if they do not want to spend money because they are afraid of not having money in the future. Respect each other when it comes to spending or saving money.

Just remember that money management is not only a key to a happy family, it is also important to a family's physical survival. A family's emotional survival is also going to depend on money management because the emotional survival is going to depend on financial stability and a happy family.