The BIGG Successs Show
When A Saver and a Spender Become a Couple
How to come to an agreement on the family's finances. Find a written summary of today's show at BIGGSUCCESS.COM.
Welcome to The Big Success Show. Today, we'll talk about when a saver and a spender become husband and wife. The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. They say that opposites attract. Now, why is that Mary Lynn? I don't know. I don't either. We're not opposites, are we? I guess it's the yin and the yang of life. Is that it? Yeah. Okay, well, you know, the other thing that we hear about is that money is one of the biggest sources of arguments among couples. That's right. And to answer your question from earlier, no, I don't think we're opposites. Aren't we? No. Are you a saver or a spender? Well, I think I'm more of a spent. I am definitely more of a spender than I'm definitely more of a spender than you. That could be true. But neither one of us are big spenders. I think we're both fairly frugal, right? That's right. But it does seem like with a lot of couples, there is the saver, and then there is the spender. And also, it's kind of interesting how a lot of times, even if you have two spenders, one will be a spender on those big ticket items, and another one may be a spender of those little everyday kind of fun things. Mm-hmm. So when it comes to us and my spending, I tend to like the little gadgets that I can buy. Little gadgets. Well, yeah, I've got the audio production studio set up here, and we were at the New Media Expo not too long ago, and I had to buy some royalty-free music and a new little microphone that I'd found. Yes, you just had to buy them. And then, of course, close. But I just kind of throw that in. Right. But I don't go overboard. Okay, Mary. Well, and I tend to, you know, I tend to, I think, like those little things. Like, I really like when we go out to dinner. Mm-hmm. And I think I probably like that more than you do. But the thing is, we're both, I think, fairly frugal. We've learned over time that it does pay to watch what you spend, right? That's right. And I think that's also because we're in business together, and so we do have to pay attention to our expenses a little bit more. Coming up, how to come to an agreement on the family finances. Today, we're talking about what to do if one person in a relationship is a saver, and one is a spender, or even if you've got two spenders, but you like to spend on different things. And the real answer to this is it all begins with what we'll call a summit. You know, you always see these heads of states, they're off having summits, right? Right. Well, guess what? You're ahead of state. So you get to have a summit. And really, what we're saying is it just pays to have a nice conversation. Notice the use of the word nice. It's an important adjective in this case. Yes. You want to try to come to a mutual understanding about what both of you feel. And so during this summit, the first thing you both will want to talk about are your values. For example, if you're a saver, maybe the reason you're a saver is because it's very important to you to be debt-free. On the other hand, if you're a spender, maybe the reason it's important to you to be a spender is because you want to live a little. You don't want to be saving and saving and saving, and then you might not be able to enjoy it. So what this summit helps you do is come to an understanding of where you're coming from, what's important to each of you, and then allow some flexibility on both sides. Yeah. Now, once you have a full understanding of what your values are, what your respective values are, now you can start setting some goals. For instance, maybe to use your example, Mary Lynn. So, you know, one of the partners wants to be debt-free. That's really, really crucial. Another one wants to buy some toys. Well, by understanding first and now starting to talk about the goals, we can actually find a way to accomplish both. We can have some money going towards that and some money going towards toys. Exactly. And once you have your goals, you can develop specific strategies. For example, set aside money from each of your paychecks for debt reduction. That'll make the saver happy. And for that certain toy, and that'll make the spender happy. Yeah. And so it means both of you are getting what you really want. Maybe each of you are given a little bit. There's some concessions involved in every summit, right? And so this is just a process where we sit out and we understand our mutual needs and wants. And then we find ways of working together to accomplish our respective goals. Which reminds me, there's a couch that I'd really like that we're gonna have to talk about. All right, Mary Lynn. You can get a written summary of today's show on our site at Big Success. That's big with 2G success.com. And while you're there, make sure to sign up for the Big Success Weekly to get the tips and tools you need to be a big success. Next time, we'll talk about the energy crisis. And it has nothing to do with oil. Hmm, how crude. Until then, here's to your big success. The Big Success Show at B-I-G-G Success.com. (music) You