In an earlier post I shared the findings from a study of family finances done by St George Bank. Let’s examine the key findings of this report –

One in four said money is a source of conflict in their relationship mainly due to income stress, food and utility bills and their partner overspending. I would say that this is largely because there is no budget in place. Money doesn’t have to be a source of conflict. Open communication and a good budget will go a long way to alleviating money stress, bill-shock and heedless overspending.

62% of respondents said they manage the household finances while 38% treat it as a joint responsibility. From what I see, if there is only one person responsible for the household finances there’s more likely to be money conflict. Is it fair to lay that whole responsibility on just one person? Teamwork is a much better solution.

Half (51%) of respondents combine their income with their partner through a joint account and 37% keep separate accounts. Separate accounts can work – if you sit down at least twice every month to discuss the family finances. I find that joint accounts tend to go together with good teamwork.

63% of respondents agree there is a spender and a saver in their relationship. This doesn’t have to be a problem if the household budget works and there are no secrets. Many couples are happy to appreciate the differences in each other. So long as neither the saver or the spender is over-the-top, there is no reason for a major war.

24% of respondents keep a financial secret from their partner. The top four secrets are a secret bank account (23%), a large debt (22%) an expensive purchase (21%) and a secret credit card. Your family finances are doomed if this happens in your house. Why are you doing this? The good news is that an open and honest discussion followed by some sensible budget planning can

70% of respondents said they taught themselves how to budget, followed by learning from their mum (23%) and their dad (20%). It doesn’t matter where you learn to budget, just so long as you do budget. If you have a system that works for you, then continue to use it. If you don’t have a good working budget, or you don’t know how to get one sorted, the all you need to do is call me. It’s simple!

Mum vs Dad

Mum’s top ‘financial secret’ was a large debt vs Dad’s secret bank account. Sometimes this is the other way around. When it comes to money, keeping secrets never works. Once again, open and honest communication can alleviate problems related to this practice. If you’re keeping secrets, I suggest you ‘fess up now. There may be a little pain, but everybody will feel better in the long-run.

4 in 10 Mum’s consider themselves the spender vs 3 in 10 of Dad’s who say this is the case. If you think that you’re the over-spender, then stop doing it. You’re probably only thinking that way because you feel guilty about what you’ve spent the money on. Ask yourself why you’re doing it – and stop!

49% of Mum’s make the financial decisions on the children vs 28% of Dad’s. Why is this so? Are Mums a softer touch when it comes to spending money on the kids?

Mum’s (41%) and Dad’s (42%) tie when it comes to thinking it’s the other who overspends. Nobody wants to admit that they’re at fault and it’s sometimes easier to play the blame game. A good budget, teamwork and more communication will help to remove this negative thinking.

©   Carmel McCartin – Budget Bitch

And don’t forget – (The views expressed in this blog are the personal opinions of the author. Don’t rely on them to make financial decisions; you must make up your own mind. If you don’t like the content – then either stop reading or send me an email)