How to get your significant other/husband/wife on board with saving money.

I know you may think it is crazy. There have been more marriages ruined by money than anything else. Sometimes one partner is disappointed that the other makes too little money, and it tired of eating spam. Sometimes one partner is consistently disappointed that the other frivolously spends their hard-earned money.

Either way in most cases this can be eased with good communication. Often times people try to put their ideas onto someone else with little regard for much else but their agenda and/or ideals. Keep in mind there is an old saying, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." In other words, to get someone to see things how you want to see them, you must first understand where they are coming from. A lot of these communication techniques can be found at www.keepyourmarriage.com.

The book "How to Win Friends and Influence People", by Dale Carnegie, found at www.amazon.com. Speaks about the 'Buy In'. I tried for years to get my wife to 'buy in' to the idea of a family budget. I tried letting her do it. I tried forcing it on her. I tried everything I could think of. Finally I found the free budget planner at www.quicken.com. She uses the goals section to manage our discretionary spending. We have been on it for a couple of months and it is working great. I couldn't be more proud.

What was the difference? Easy, she finally bought into it. Once she was given a piece to manage on her own, set spending levels and manage the spending amounts it all clicked. The moral of this story is simple: If you want action, you must be willing to sacrifice control.