JavaScript is disabled in your web browser or browser is too old to support JavaScript. Today almost all web pages contain JavaScript, a scripting programming language that runs on visitor's web browser. It makes web pages functional for specific purposes and if disabled for some reason, the content or the functionality of the web page can be limited or unavailable.

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING & BUDGETING FOR COUPLES

by

Daniella Cassano-Mohammed
2188 days ago
20190717

Con­ver­sa­tions about mon­ey are nev­er easy es­pe­cial­ly when you have to sit and make cold, hard fi­nan­cial de­ci­sions with your part­ner. Whether you are mar­ried or in a se­ri­ous re­la­tion­ship, it is cru­cial that you learn to build your re­la­tion­ship by un­der­stand­ing how im­por­tant and use­ful a bud­get can be in your every­day life and in achiev­ing long-term (fu­ture) plans.

I know most peo­ple dis­like hav­ing to dis­cuss mon­ey mat­ters but if you think your re­la­tion­ship is in a po­si­tion where a bud­get needs to be im­ple­ment­ed, then it is time to put your pride aside and get crack­ing.

Bal­ance is the name of the game and it’s go­ing to take sac­ri­fices and hon­esty. All cou­ples should sit and talk about where they are at fi­nan­cial­ly. I re­alise peo­ple shy away from the top­ic be­cause they do not want to bur­den their part­ner with their wor­ries or mon­ey prob­lems etcetera. How­ev­er, if you want to build a life with some­one, be­ing straight­for­ward about your fi­nances will not on­ly open doors but close doors that are not for you. The per­son you are spend­ing your life with should be the biggest part of your sup­port sys­tem.

Fan­cy dates cost mon­ey and so do trips, eat­ing out ca­su­al­ly and go­ing to the movies. Now, mul­ti­ply that by two. The per­son that is spend­ing the ma­jor­i­ty of cash is sure to feel it the most. I know it is hard to see cou­ples do­ing lav­ish things and you and your part­ner may be strug­gling to even ac­com­mo­date a sim­ple date night but break­ing the bank and pre­tend­ing you do not have a prob­lem is go­ing to make things worse.

If you are mar­ried or liv­ing to­geth­er you need to de­ter­mine your house­hold needs such as mort­gage, gro­ceries, car pay­ments, util­i­ty pay­ments and debt pay­ments. Your needs are to be pri­ori­tised above your wants, then you can be­gin to fo­cus on lux­u­ry and plea­sure. Every cou­ple, no mat­ter the sit­u­a­tion, has to dis­cuss in­di­vid­ual needs. This is where things can get a tad tricky but keep in mind why you are bud­get­ing in the first place. You want a fu­ture that is se­cure and less fi­nan­cial­ly frus­trat­ing with your part­ner.

Cre­at­ing a shared bud­get can en­sure you are both work­ing to­wards the same goals and will, with­out a doubt, bring you clos­er if it is done cor­rect­ly. Set aside one day per week, to start bud­get dis­cus­sions prefer­ably when you both are rest­ed and have at least 30 min­utes free. When you are speak­ing, bear in mind that every­one was brought up dif­fer­ent­ly and start­ing a bud­get may be a for­eign con­cept to some. Look at ‘Bud­get­ing for Cou­ples’ videos on­line to get start­ed and ac­quaint­ed with all the terms and help­ful tips that may suit your unique sit­u­a­tion.

Easy ways to bud­get and still have an ac­tive so­cial life de­pend on your mind­set. You may not be able to go for din­ner at your favourite spot or to see a movie every week, but, you can plan a ro­man­tic din­ner at home and watch a movie af­ter. That saves gas mon­ey, cin­e­ma fees, fast food/ restau­rant fees and you still get to have qual­i­ty time with your spe­cial per­son. If one per­son is more fi­nan­cial­ly sta­ble than the oth­er, one part­ner can buy the gro­ceries whilst the oth­er cooks and wash­es dish­es. An­oth­er fun op­tion is en­joy­ing more out­door ac­tiv­i­ties like go­ing to the beach, go­ing fish­ing or even hik­ing. We live on an is­land and I hon­est­ly think cou­ples do not make the most of that bless­ing. Vis­i­tors come here to va­ca­tion and pay big bucks to ex­pe­ri­ence our beau­ti­ful coun­try, why can’t we en­joy it a lit­tle more and ap­pre­ci­ate the beau­ty in front of us? Try a stay­ca­tion in­stead of a va­ca­tion else­where this year.

Plan pic­nics, house gath­er­ings and make an ef­fort to in­vite friends for a game night. What about danc­ing? Have a night out but set lim­its be­fore you leave the house. Be on the look­out for drink spe­cials, food spe­cials, dis­counts when shop­ping and places that have lit­tle to no cov­er charge. There is no shame in be­ing smart fi­nan­cial­ly. At the end of the day when you hit your tar­get and achieve your goals, you can en­joy things with­out the wor­ry of be­ing in debt. What is more im­por­tant, a fan­cy pair of shoes or sav­ing to­wards a new home? A bot­tle of cham­pagne or your chil­dren’s school fees? Be pa­tient, your time will come and if it is su­per im­por­tant that you or your part­ner take re­ceive a lav­ish gift or get away every now and then, make it hap­pen but en­sure that you can tru­ly af­ford it.

Small sac­ri­fices help build a bet­ter fu­ture and your part­ner will ap­pre­ci­ate you for be­ing un­der­stand­ing in­stead of com­plain­ing and be­ing un­re­al­is­tic. When your bud­get is made, keep a month­ly meet­ing to keep track of things. Make ad­just­ments as you go along and most im­por­tant­ly, do not lose faith, this is just an­oth­er page in your sto­ry.


Related articles

Sponsored

Weather

PORT OF SPAIN WEATHER

Sponsored

Today's
Guardian

Publications

Wendell Constantine

Wendell Constantine

Wendell Constantine

Wendell Constantine

Local judges ready for Unsung Heroes campaign

6 hours ago
Students, principal and staff of St David’s RC Primary, along with the UWTT and Scotiabank Foundation teams at the handover of steelpans at the school.

Students, principal and staff of St David’s RC Primary, along with the UWTT and Scotiabank Foundation teams at the handover of steelpans at the school.

Students, principal and staff of St David’s RC Primary, along with the UWTT and Scotiabank Foundation teams at the handover of steelpans at the school.

Students, principal and staff of St David’s RC Primary, along with the UWTT and Scotiabank Foundation teams at the handover of steelpans at the school.

Scotiabank Foundation, United Way donate steelpans

Yesterday
A model in a costume from The Lost Tribe’s 2026 presentation Island Circus

A model in a costume from The Lost Tribe’s 2026 presentation Island Circus

KERWIN PIERRE

A model in a costume from The Lost Tribe’s 2026 presentation Island Circus

A model in a costume from The Lost Tribe’s 2026 presentation Island Circus

KERWIN PIERRE

Ringmasters of the Road: Crowds flock to Tribe’s circus-themed band launch

Yesterday
The Executive of the National Parang Association 2025-27. Back row, from left: Kervin Preudhomme, assistant secretary; Shaquille Headley, committee member; Cheriese Pierre, committee member; Lisa Lee, trustee; Joanne Briggs, PRO; Yarelis Touissant, committee member; William Calliste, trustee. Front row, from left: Jenais Carter, secretary; Alicia Jaggasar, president; Henrietta Carter, vice president; Joseph Bertrand, youth officer. Missing: Kerrylee Chee Chow, treasurer; Chevone Pierre, committee member.

The Executive of the National Parang Association 2025-27. Back row, from left: Kervin Preudhomme, assistant secretary; Shaquille Headley, committee member; Cheriese Pierre, committee member; Lisa Lee, trustee; Joanne Briggs, PRO; Yarelis Touissant, committee member; William Calliste, trustee. Front row, from left: Jenais Carter, secretary; Alicia Jaggasar, president; Henrietta Carter, vice president; Joseph Bertrand, youth officer. Missing: Kerrylee Chee Chow, treasurer; Chevone Pierre, committee member.

The Executive of the National Parang Association 2025-27. Back row, from left: Kervin Preudhomme, assistant secretary; Shaquille Headley, committee member; Cheriese Pierre, committee member; Lisa Lee, trustee; Joanne Briggs, PRO; Yarelis Touissant, committee member; William Calliste, trustee. Front row, from left: Jenais Carter, secretary; Alicia Jaggasar, president; Henrietta Carter, vice president; Joseph Bertrand, youth officer. Missing: Kerrylee Chee Chow, treasurer; Chevone Pierre, committee member.

The Executive of the National Parang Association 2025-27. Back row, from left: Kervin Preudhomme, assistant secretary; Shaquille Headley, committee member; Cheriese Pierre, committee member; Lisa Lee, trustee; Joanne Briggs, PRO; Yarelis Touissant, committee member; William Calliste, trustee. Front row, from left: Jenais Carter, secretary; Alicia Jaggasar, president; Henrietta Carter, vice president; Joseph Bertrand, youth officer. Missing: Kerrylee Chee Chow, treasurer; Chevone Pierre, committee member.

Jaggasar returns as National Parang president

2 days ago