Why I Am Better At Dealing With Financial Items Than My Spouse Is

There is a dichotomy within relationships which naturally balance out over time. Within each couple, there is a spender and a saver. Although there are some variations of the percentage each person in the couple has, there is likely to always be a balance. Make sure, if you are in a couple, you communicate this balance.

Spender

Spenders are a unique breed of individuals. They often have the impulsive mindset of spending money without the additional thought of the impact. This does not mean they are not budget-conscious, it simply means the connection between the two is typically not thought of at the time of purchase. Spenders also do not see anything wrong with what they are doing through constant purchases. Although this kind of thinking does not make them worse than the alternative, it can be dangerous for a spender. There has to be some type of balance.

Saver

Savers are wonderful people (speaking as a huge saver). If you are a saver, you will relate to the following statements quite well. Savers are naturally cautious of spending money. It does not mean we are scared of spending money on things, we just need to plan everything out in advance. This also means we do not buy many things as it takes so long before we actually make a decision to spend money. We are not boring people. Most of us love spending money, but it has to be on the exact thing we want. Savers can run into trouble because it DOES take so long to make a decision. We can be so far on the saver side of thinking that we can be indecisive. Again, there needs to be a balance.

The Natural Balance

There are some of you out there who have this natural tendency to be balanced in your thinking as well. You are neither a saver nor a spender. You are well-balanced. At times, you will shift more to one extreme to the other, but over the course of time, there is a correction. This is great! The chance of you struggling with over-spending or making a decision will likely be minimal. However, just like with other mindsets, this can result in some issues. With this constant flip back and forth you might experience bouts of feeling like you are on a rollercoaster of managing money. Although not bad, it can be a bit stressful.

The Balance Created

 For those of us who decided to be in a relationship, there tends to be a natural balance which occurs. This includes those who are already naturally balanced. In a recent discussion with some friends, these different mindsets appear to exist in each one of them. The interesting part is to hear how they interact, and inherently know who each one is in the relationship. For example, there is one couple who each appear to have a natural balance. This is perfect because they then balance each other out really well. Obviously, there are the spender and saver couples as well, such as my wife and I.

The Communication Is Important

Regardless of where each couple or person falls in line with the variations, it is important to remember to communicate. For those who are opposites within the relationship, contention often follows due to the difference of opinion. Even within similar mindsets, differences of opinion on how to spend money will occur. This all might seem rudimentary to relationships in general, and it is. However, so often finances becomes a huge source of contention in relationships. It is not because one person is bad and one is good with money. In fact, each is likely great in their own regard. It is these different mindsets which we have to remember to take into account. If you do this before overreacting next time there is a money discussion, it will hopefully be more productive and not end with everyone angry.