The Class That Saved Our Marriage: Financial Peace University

MONEY. Isn’t it so uncomfortable to talk about?

That’s why, frankly, most couples don’t. They get married without having any real in-depth conversations about money.

What do you typically spend money on? How much debt do you have? Do you have student loans? How many credit cards do you have? How much do you pay for rent in comparison to how much you make?

All of these questions are vitally important to get answered before you get married. I’m speaking from experience, not as someone who did this right, but as someone who did this WRONG. Finances were a topic that came up in premarital counseling, but Brian and I never really went in depth with it. We got married, combined our bank accounts, and then continued on thinking nothing of it and completely unprepared for what happened next. Money became a HUGE source of our fights.

Prior to getting married, neither one of us had experience talking about money, or had ever thought about what money management looked like as a married couple. We made a lot of financial mistakes in our first year of marriage which led us further into debt, simply to avoid the uncomfortable conversations.

About a year and a half into our marriage, a class called Financial Peace University was offered at our church. It was one night a week for 10 weeks, and I KNEW that if we were going to ever have the kind of financial freedom we wanted, it was absolutely necessary to go to this class. We needed to change how we thought about and spent our money.

Brian and I signed up, and that was DAY 1 of everything changing for us. EVERYTHING. I cannot advertise Financial Peace University enough, and my hope for you is that you would heed my advice and take this class before you get married. It is one of the absolute best ways to start a healthy marriage. The goal is never to shame each other’s spending habits, or to police each other on how to spend money, the purpose is to give you the tools to learn and get educated on how to manage money as husband and wife.

Financial Peace University saved our marriage and it saved our bank account. If we had taken it before we got married we could’ve avoided so many arguments and felt peace about money so much sooner. It gave us such an amazing healthy view of money. We learned how to take control of our money rather than letting our money control us.

This is one of my biggest marriage tips that I can give to couples. Find a church or a community center that is hosting a Financial Peace University class (CLICK HERE TO FIND ONE). Get yourselves on the right foot entering into marriage. Sign up. Take that step. I PROMISE you won’t regret it.

I want to make sure you know that this blog post is in no way sponsored by Financial Peace University. I’m not getting anything by posting this. I just believe in it that much, am so thankful that it saved my marriage, and I care so deeply about yours.

-xo
Kelsey