Surviving a Difficult Economy as Newlyweds

Truth of the matter is the first year of marriage is hard. Really, really hard. It takes some getting used to living with another person 24-hours a day/7-days a week and learning to always view things in your life now as a couple. Those little habits you will learn while living together - i.e. not putting toilet paper back on the roll, leaving drinking glasses scattered around your home, etc. - can begin to wear down on your nerves. No matter how well you know someone before you say "I do," you are always going to learn new things about them; some of those things will drive you crazy and some will be little attributes of your spouse that you will come to adore. It seems many older and experienced married couples will always tell you that the first year is the hardest and things get easier from there. But, what happens when you get married during a tough economic time like our country is experiencing right now?

Let's face it; most newlyweds aren't millionaires. Most of us have to work hard to climb the proverbial work-place ladder. It's a difficult learning experience to figure out how you, as newlyweds, are going to budget your money anyway; add in the rising cost of everyday living and the ever-increasing amount of lay-offs occurring right now, and, well, you're going to find yourself facing an even more difficult first year of marriage than you would have in a healthy economy. There's hope, though! You can't let difficult financial times ruin your marriage, but you may have to put even more time and effort (then you had originally planned) in to making your first year of marriage successful. There are always ways to work around a tough financial time.

Continue dating your spouse, but do it on a budget; just because you are married does not mean you can stop putting thought, time and effort in to dates; but, when you find yourself short on extra spending money, you have to be creative. Check your nearest major city newspaper everyday; they are always advertising some sort of free (or inexpensive) events going on in your city. Just recently, the Dallas Morning News ran an advertisement for the website www.freenightoftheater.net; this website offered free tickets to many plays in several major cities around the United States. (Most of the tickets are already gone; but bookmark the site for future reference!) Most small towns are always having some sort of event - hot air balloon festivals, craft fares, etc.; simply Google towns near your area and find their official website. Most of them always have a calendar of events. Do the obvious and rent a movie, order a pizza, and stay in. Think about how much you would spend on a movie night out compared to what you would spend on a movie night at your home. Make some sandwiches and go have a picnic at the park; you're going to pay a lot less for that meal than you would at even a fast food restaurant.

Shop with coupons. There are so many moms (and dads, too!) all over this country that will tell you time and time again to clip your coupons; listen to them! Pick up local ads at your favorite grocery store, and get a Sunday morning paper (even if you toss it without reading anything, it's still a good bargain for the coupons.) Sit down with your spouse and see which grocery store has items that you would like to purchase on sale using the ad that you picked up; then, go through your coupons. Find any coupons you would like to use for that week; and, even better, look for items that were in the ads that you have a coupon for, too. That's an extra way to save even more. It can take some time to get yourself organized with ads and coupons, but it can be a fun way to sit down with each other, plan out a smart shopping trip, and learn to help your budget all at once. Also, search Google for product websites that are giving away free samples; many feminine care, hair product lines, and cleaning brands always have some sort of sign-up sheet on their website. Simply fill out the form, and you'll receive some sort of free sample (typically, 4-6 weeks later). But, if you find free sample websites on a weekly basis, you can definitely stockpile those samples once you start receiving them in the mail.

Spend money with cash instead of a debit/credit card. This isn't really a save-you-money tool, but it can make for a fun way to save for dates. Whenever you have left over change, go home and put it in a jar. Spend some time with your spouse and discuss some type of activity (concert, play, art show, bar night, etc.) that you would really like to do with one another. Then, use that change jar to save up for that activity. It's an easy way to give yourself something to look forward to doing, and the change can add up quickly. Besides, not going out every weekend and giving yourself something to look forward to can make that activity with your spouse all the more worthwhile.

Talk to one another before you do spend any money, or give each other a set amount of cash to use each week (within a reasonable amount, of course) and stick to that amount. Newlyweds can get mad at one another over simple things at times and over-react; if you find out your spouse spent some money at a lunch outing during work without discussing it with you, you may find yourself with a whole "that's not fair!" mentality, go out, and spend money on something in retaliation. At the time, it might make you feel better to spend impulsively because your spouse did, but in the end, it's not going to help your budget. Talking to one another about what you would like to spend also helps to strengthen your communication lines in general; if you start thinking about your spouse in such simple matters as running a lunchdate with a co-worker by him/her, you're going to find it a habit to discuss any thing going on in your life with him/her, too.

Find friends that want to help you host some sort-of game/movie night at each other's homes; chances are, your friends are all going through some hard times in this economy, too. Dig out the old board games and have some friends over; have everyone bring something, order some pizzas from a major chain (most of them have some great deals, or coupons on their website), and play some games with your friends. If you would rather not ask people to pitch in, then set up a schedule where you all get together a certain amount of times a month, but change locations to someone else's home each time. That way, you can all trade-off responsibility of who is in charge of providing snacks. And, keep in mind, you do not have to go over board with food and drinks; make your game night after dinnertime, even, so people will not expect a meal (therefore, saving you money from ordering pizza.)

Communicate with one another about everything going on in your mind, daily life, workplace, etc. A tough financial time is hard on everyone; if you let things just build up, it's going to cause a horrible blow-up when it does finally come out. Spend time talking with each other every night before you go to bed; when you first started dating, you probably stayed up until all hours talking to each other on the phone or the internet, why stop that now just because you're married? Talk about that activity you're saving your change for in the jar; make plans to have stay-at-home dates; just talk, no matter the subject matter. Communication is important in any relationship, but it makes all the difference being a newlywed in a suffering economy. Just remember that you are not facing this difficult time alone; your spouse is there to go through it with you. No matter the frustration, boredom (from not being able to go out and do things all of the time), or stress, face it together.