Money creates stress for everyone. It’s even more complicated when you and your partner share financial responsibilities. But discussing financial anxiety and budget concerns shouldn’t feel impossible. To make the process easier, and reduce your longterm stress, keep these five tips in mind:
1. Schedule Talks in Advance
Sudden conversations about life’s biggest stressors are never easy. Make your financial talks less anxiety-inducing by scheduling them with your partner in advance. Give yourselves a week’s notice to prepare for a budgeting meeting. You may experience fewer stress symptoms like headaches and trouble sleeping if you have time to review your finances, calculate expenses, and prepare to conquer challenges together.
2. Acknowledge You’re a Team
People often fight about money because the conversations feel like a one-on-one fight. Start discussing financial anxiety by acknowledging that you’re a team. Whether you worry about expenditures that make child-rearing cost $13,000 a year or accruing debt, you’re in this together. Let your partner know how grateful you are to have them beside you in this challenge – anything’s possible when you’re a team.
This step may even involve some reminiscing together. When you’re ready to talk about money, sit together and pause. Reflect on all the things you’ve achieved together, financially or otherwise. If you’re in an appreciative headspace, your conversation will go much smoother.
3. Monitor Your Body Language and Tone
Body language adds up to around 55% of communication for most people. Are you talking with your partner while crossing your arms and scrunching your eyebrows? Try holding yourself in a relaxed manner with an open expression; this way, they know you’re there to listen. Don’t point your fingers, shake your head, or purse your lips. If you don’t know what would be helpful for your partner, think about how you’d receive the body language if you were them.
A person’s tone of voice also makes a significant difference when talking about something anxiety-inducing. Talking in a loud tone communicates that you feel agitated, so speaking in a soft tone can greatly improve your next financial conversation.
4. Avoid Accusatory Wording
While arguing about money is a common conflict for couples, you shouldn’t fight every time money problems happen. Watching your wording is another way to love someone because you put your relationship first. When you discuss financial anxiety, consider using passive language to focus on your solutions over who contributed to the problem.
5. Make Actionable Goals Together
Regrouping on ongoing financial stressors renews your determination to conquer a challenge together. However, you might not make progress without actionable steps. Break down each problem into goals, like paying off a specific amount of debt each month, or saving a certain amount of money each paycheck.
Remember to write your goals down somewhere you can both reflect. Put them on a whiteboard in your kitchen, or frame them in your office. Feeling like you’re still on track alleviates some of your shared anxieties, even when financial progress takes months or years.
Money is stressful, but you can make discussing financial anxiety with your partner easier.
If discussing financial anxiety feels like an impossible task, use some new strategies to make it easier on you and your partner. Prioritize your love for each other, watch how you communicate and set realistic steps toward your goals. With new perspectives on future budgeting topics, you’ll make your finances less stressful.
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Finance is the most important issue in lifetime