Money matters. In marriage, it matters even more. Your attitude towards it, how you earn it, and how you use it, are all very important factors for how happy or not a couple will be in their marriage. This 5-part series provides helpful tips on how to master and make money an enabler rather than a problem in your marriage.

Understand your Perspective

Couples generally have unique (and often conflicting) perspectives when it comes to money. Research shows that our perspective on, or our attitude towards money, can range from ‘saver vs. spender’ to ‘buy things vs. buy experiences’ to ‘buy quality vs. buy quantity.’

These attitudes may not necessarily be good or bad in themselves, but the fact that a couple falls on opposite ends of any particular spectrum can result in a lot of stress for their marriage because decision-making can easily turn into serious conflict.

To prevent conflict, it is important to seek to understand your money perspective (attitude), as well as that of your spouse. 1 Peter 3:7, for instance, admonishes husbands to live thoughtfully with their wives, taking into consideration their delicateness. Indeed, there is a need for a couple to seek to understand the unique person they are married to, and how that may influence how they view money or any other issue.