Sometimes I do something really stupid. Okay, it’s more than just sometimes … it happens quite a lot. And occasionally, it has to do with money. Take today, for instance. I didn’t see until it was too late that I wasn’t supposed to put large envelopes in the drop at the post office. The sign said it would probably get returned to me. So I spent money mailing packages … to myself … and felt like a total dimwit.
Part of me wanted to keep that to myself. It’s hard to admit when you’ve done something dorky. But my husband and I have made the decision to be totally upfront with each other about our money. We’re trying to get our finances under control, and we can’t do that if we’re spending money the other person doesn’t know about.
So, I told him what had happened, and you know what? He didn’t even laugh at me. Instead, he took my side and blamed the stupid post office for not stating things like that more clearly. (He’s a good man.) And while I still feel sheepish, I don’t feel sheepish and like I’m hiding it from my husband. When you hide things, it just compounds the original problem and makes it all that harder to fix.
Honesty is a key component in marriage, and I believe that honesty about money is crucial. It helps the husband and wife work together as a team to plan for the future. It allows freedom of communication. There’s nothing to hide, no fear of your spouse discovering that credit card bill or that new pair of shoes you bought and then tucked into the back of the closet so he wouldn’t find out, or that computer software he got and doesn’t want his wife to know how much it cost. Marriage is teamwork in all things, and when we take the mystery out of the money, it brings us closer together and allows us to truly function in unison, which is such an amazing blessing.
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