About the book:
Money & Marriage: A Complete Guide for Engaged or Newly Married Couples
In this thorough and practical guide, financial expert Matt Bell helps engaged and newly married couples navigate the merger of habits, flaws, and attitudes about money so two can truly become one.
His writing is full of helpful advice, Scripture, and practical steps to gaining financial freedom together as a couple. Learn to use money in a way that minimizes disputes and maximizes marital happiness.
My Review:
OK, now here is what I have to say about the book....
First off, this is a great book for both engaged and newly married couples.
Matt starts right off with what seems to be the cause of so many relationship issues these days ---MONEY!!!
He talks about he and his wife, Jude and when they were merely dating, and how they very rarely disagreed. And then when they got engaged and they had to go register for their wedding gifts, they had their very FIRST ARGUMENT...over what dish pattern to register for. Yes it seems so silly, doesn't it?? But if you think about it, it is often something so silly that will cause many arguments and the little arguments often don't stay little, because we let them grow and make them into something so much more. He goes on about that first argument and says if they were "having such a tough time spending other people's money"...'what about when it came time to spend [their] own money?' And isn't that the a great question to ask ourselves right now???
This book does a great job at helping you to understand how important it is to understand what you are getting yourself in to ahead of time...NOT after you have been married for six months or a year!! He tells us to ask your partner to have a look at their financial slate, so to speak. Basically, you should both know of each others debts if any, such as credit cards, student loans, etc. up front if there is any.
And without giving the whole book away, the last thing I want to stress on, is how Matt stresses how important it is to put some money away. It's kind of like Jackie Mason that says, "I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something." But who can live like that in real life and be comfortable and live in peace??? Matt says that the least stressed-out people have six or more months worth of living expenses set aside. Now that is something that I currently do not have, but am definitely going to start working at.
This is definitely not just a one time read. I feel that this is a book that you will stick on your shelf and refer back to many times through-out your engagement and marriage. Perhaps it may just be the key to a long and very happy marriage, because money won't be something you two will have to worry about :)
~Steph
About Matt Bell:
Today, Matt is a full-time personal finance writer and speaker. He is the author of two books: "Money, Purpose, Joy" (September 2008) and "Money Strategies for Tough Times" (April 2009), both by NavPress. Matt has been quoted in USA TODAY, U.S. News and World Report, the Chicago Tribune, and Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, has written for ChristianityToday.com, and has been a guest on WGN-TV and several nationally syndicated radio talk shows.
Matt holds a Master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from DePaul University, where he wrote a thesis about the emergence of America's consumer culture and its influence on people's beliefs and behaviors.
Matt lives with his wife and their three young children in the Chicago area. Visit his website and blog at www.mattaboutmoney.com.
Don't miss the rest of the blog tour....
Note: I was given a copy of this book to review at no cost.
I am in no way required to given a positive review!!
I ALWAYS given my honest opinion of items that I review.
In this case, thank you to Litfuse Publicity Group.
Again, if you haven't already got yourself a copy,
you can get yourself one here.
great post
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