How can an 18-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man solve their financial family and personal problems before it ends in divorce?

Answer 1

It's true ... money is the root of all evil! It doesn't matter what age you are, most people have financial difficulties in their marriage on many occasions.

Since you are both quite young it is so enticing to buy everything in sight and put it all on your charge cards or spend your pay checks before you get them. Here is what you do and you must stick to this!

Get all the bills you owe, list them on a piece of paper and total up what you owe.

Then you have to figure out how much money is coming into your household.

Figure out how much you spend on food, gas, the ODD movie, if you smoke count this expense in as well, buying alcohol, pub nights, etc.

If you smoke ... cut-back or quit!Go to more than 5 movies a month? Cut back to twice a month.

Go out to dinner more than twice a month ... cut-down to 1 or 2 times (that means an ordinary restaurant and nothing fancy.)

If you smoke marijuana, stop! It may appear cheap, but tally it up!

If you go to pubs or buy cases of beer stop! One pub night a month with friends is all you need and one case of beer per pay check is enough.

If you buy too much junk food stop! Never grocery shop on an empty stomach. Make a grocery list of the essentials you need (no perks here) buy name-brand items, and compare prices and then shop AFTER YOU HAVE EATEN. If you shop while hungry there is a 99% chance you will buy things you don't need.

Until you catch up on your bills, walk places if you can or take a bus. It saves on gas. If you live in a dangerous neighborhood then you will have to take the car.

If you live in a expensive apartment, then find something that fits your budget.

Then take a small portion of money (I mean small) and treat yourselfs. Any Financial Advisor will tell you to do this. It's a reward for sticking to a strict budget.

If you own a "cool" car, then get rid of it and buy a more gas efficient car that's easy on gas. Once married, "cool" goes out the window! New cars can come into your lives later on, but marriage can't be fixed if you are always in debt.

After you go through your list then phone each company you owe money too and tell them your problem. Most companies just want their money (you owe it to them) and they will usually work with you in any way they can. Be sure you make a great attempt to pay what you can on each bill.

If you are not responsible enough to handle your money, then give this list to one of your parents and when you get paid sign over your pay checks and let them distribute the money to your debtors until you learn enough maturity to manage your own financial matters.

Don't feel bad! Each one of us at some time in their lives has gotten over their head in debt. It's easy to do in these modern times as there are so many things to entice you out there and ads on TV and in magazines make sure you are enticed. If you see something you like, then think about it for a week before you buy it and 9 chances out of 10 you will realize you never really needed it in the first place.

The method I gave you above to help you out of debt is not forever. Once out of debt it is just a learning tool so you can do better. Don't forget to sit down with your mate and figure that list out. You both have to try!

Money always creates personal problems, and if you have children at your young ages, this too is tough, but it can be done.

I hope you do as I suggested because you can get out of debt by doing this. Always remember, if you try hard to work with a company you owe money to, they will usually try to work with you. At first it will be a little hard to be so strict with yourselves, but you get use to it and it's a good learning tool not to get too into debt throughout the rest of your life.

Good luckMerry ChristmasMarcy

You shouldn't let something like money lead to a divorce. The best solution to marital trouble is communication - honest and open. Sacrifices are usually needed as well.

Money is NOT the root of all evil. Greed is a better word. We need money to live on this planet. This is a very complex issue and it's good that you are looking for advice. I think you'll have to go to counseling over this issue. It's very common for people to fight over financial issues.