Before getting married

Combining finances when setting up a new household can be stressful. With money being one of the top ten reasons for getting divorced, being able to avoid any post-honeymoon financial shocks would be a real advantage for sustaining marital bliss. Toward such an ideal outcome, an engaged couple can pre-plan their combined finances using A Real Budget advance plan which has a start date of either their wedding day, or perhaps the day they return from their honeymoon.

To negotiate how they want their combined finances to work for the first year of their life together, the couple works through the "Detailed start-up," but do not "Pay bills." On the advance plan start date, the newlyweds uncheck the advance plan checkbox and finish the "Detailed start-up" process with "Pay bills" for the first time as a married couple.

Their combined budget space becomes their household money management tool til death do them part.