Communication 101

Over the weekend my hubby and I sat down to have the much dreaded budget talk. This really shouldn’t be a subject that spouses dread discussing, but for us, on Sunday night it was. As most of you all know I am very anal retentive when in comes to most things in life. I am very structured and super intense when it comes to saving money and getting out of debt.

You see, a little over two years ago hubby and I decided that we would use Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover (TMMO) plan to get out of debt and build wealth. We started out super focused with gazelle intensity. We were reorganizing our finances, selling everything that didn’t have a pulse, and paying off bills left and right. Several months into the program my husbands’ intensity level began to wane, as my intensity grew stronger and stronger. Hubby continued to go along with the plan, but I could tell he wasn’t as excited about it as I was.

A little over a year into the TMMO I noticed that it seemed as though my husband was starting to build up resentment about the whole thing. This became very frustrating to me because I felt like he was always trying to buck the system in some way. He didn’t feel as though his expendable cash amount for the month was enough, he wanted to start making large purchases and he felt as though I was hording all of the money for credit card bills.

I realized that there was a major disconnect that needed to be mended. According to the “rules” of the TMMO, husband and wife should have a budget meeting once a month to discuss expenditures and budget issues. Well, we had not been adhering to this rule. For one my husband didn’t really care to talk with me about the budget because of his resentment and I didn’t really care to discuss it because I didn’t want it to turn into something negative.

So months and months have gone by since our last budget meeting, but on Sunday night that all changed. We started this budget meeting with prayer, which was what we should have been doing all along. “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6) I am so happy that we finally sat down and formally communicated about the issues regarding the budget. We both had an opportunity to express our feelings and come to a consensus about how money will be handled going forward. I didn’t necessarily get the outcome that I wanted nor did my husband, but we came to an agreement that we are equally content with.

This is one example that communication in relationships is key. Weather it be a marriage or a mother-child relationship, there must be some level of continuous communication so that dissention and resentment don’t have the opportunity to build. The enemy will use anything that he can to throw us off course in our lives, but it is up to us to do all that we can to stay positive and to always walk in love. As parents, we should exemplify this for our children as we raise them the way that the Lord intended. Keeping the lines of communication with your children open could one day save a life.

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (www.savedmom.com), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to info@savedmom.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M.