Plan Together

So the other day Steph and I sat down for a meeting that was long overdue.  It was time to take a look at the old budget. I really didn’t want to do this and I think she felt the same since we pushed back the date and time a few times.  But since we have both started new full-time day jobs recently it was time to take a look at our financial situation.

I’m a pretty organized person so a few years ago I actually set up a spreadsheet to help us put together an informal budget.  It’s pretty handy since it lists out all of our monthly bills, debts that we are trying to pay off as well as some planned spending for each month.  It was weird that I was pushing off having this conversation because it really did help me get a perspective on our situation and what we are trying to do together.

Not only did we talk about our financials but we also started talking about the future and what our dreams and goals are.  We are both interested in starting a family soon, we both want to get out of debt, we want to start saving for a house. These are all long term goals that we share and it was really nice to get our thoughts out there and see how the other person felt.  We also took a look at some of the short term things we are trying to do as well such as continuing to sustain success at our new jobs and planning more time for fun!

It was one of those times where I ended up doing something that I really didn’t want to but by the end I was glad that I did.  

Moral of the story?  Make time to plan together.    

Seriously, set aside time to talk about this stuff! If you’re in a committed relationship you are most likely sharing some, if not all, aspects of your lives together.  Take the time, every so often, to sit down and make a plan. Once you’ve made a plan check in on that plan. Have you stuck to your ideas? Do things need to change? Are you still both thinking the same things on different topics?

Making decisions together is a major part of a relationship.  From the smallest decision like: “what do you want to eat for dinner?” To bigger ones like: “should we take this next step and move in together?”  These are two of hundreds, if not thousands, of shared decisions that come with a relationship. When you take the time to make a game plan you can really understand your partner’s perspective and how it relates to and differs from your own. 

Like the old adage goes:  “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  It’s totally true, taking a few minutes to plan out the day, the weekend, your futures together can make a world of difference.


What kinds of planning do you do with your significant other?  Any tips or ideas you can share with others? Comment below!

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