Resources for Making Your First Budget Together

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Are you ready to start making your first budget together but not sure where to start? One book that was recommended to us during our premarital counseling, and which was extremely helpful in setting up that first budget, is The Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples, by Larry Burkett.

The book is great at walking through some common sense guidelines about talking through your finances together. It also gives a great guide consisting of general allocation percentages for how much of your paychecks should be going to the various areas of your budget. We didn’t use these percentages exactly but they were a great starting point for our budget. The book also discusses saving strategies, and different things you can be doing differently in your finances in the different stages of your lives.

Another great resource is Crown Financial Ministries, whose purpose is “to teach [Biblical] financial principles and to transform lives.” It also has some great articles, especially some on budgets. Among the titles in their articles are:

- Steps to Making a Budget,
- Budget for Miscellaneous,
- Budget for Entertainment and Recreation,
- The Need for a Spending Plan, and
- Budgeting on a Fluctuating Income.

There are many other great budgeting resources you can easily find out there. Among them are Kiplinger’s resources on a host of personal finance issues and CNN Money’s Money 101 Guide to Making a Budget. Whatever the resources you end up using, it’s a good idea to make this budget earlier than later in your marriage, and researching and working on your budget together can be a great way to get to learn more about your mutual priorities and expectations during the first few weeks of marriage.

Tagged as: Book Club, budget, planning, reading