 Communicating About Money - Guidelines
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Audio/Video Script:
Laura Connerly - Family Resource Management
Love and money don't always go together. Communicating about money can be a
recipe for disaster in couples and families. So I'm going to give you a few tips
to make that a little bit smoother area.
One important thing to remember when your family is talking about money is to
find a time and a place where you won't have other distractions. It's stressful
enough to talk about money without having other stressful events intervene. So,
when you're going to sit down and talk about money, find a time and a place
that's going to be peaceful and quiet without additional interruptions.
And, planning to talk about money does take a little extra time and effort.
So, let's talk about some of those tips that can make this a smoother process.
First of all, it's important to allow everyone to have input.
Traditionally only the main wage earner in the house made all of the financial
decisions. But even children have their own values and attitudes and financial
goals. And so, if you want everyone to stick to the family spending plan, it's
important to let everyone in the family feel like they had input into that
decision.
The next tip is to make sure that you clearly identify the issue at hand.
Is the issue overspending? Is the issue that you have some extra money and you
need to decide what you spend it on? Or maybe the issue is that there's been a
budget cut and you need to decide where to reduce your spending.
Make sure that you identify what the issue is and stick to that topic and
don't bring up other things when you're trying to solve a money issue.
Another point is that it's important to avoid judging or criticizing.
For everyone to feel like their thoughts and feelings are heard and appreciated
it's important that you listen carefully and avoid judging or criticizing.
And again, as you listen carefully, that's an important tip. And you
might keep in the back of your mind that people do have different values and
attitudes and feelings about money. So if you listen carefully you can kind of
think about those things too and take those into consideration as you're trying
to work through money compromises.
And finally, you have to be willing to negotiate. We all have
different values, attitudes, feelings and financial goals. You may not always
agree with everyone in your family about money. But the important thing is that
you work together to give your family financial stability and to work toward
achieving those common financial goals.
There is a worksheet on the Extension Fact Sheet “Communicating About Money”
that has some good questions and tips for getting your family started in talking
about money.
[Announcer] To learn more, contact your county extension agent and
follow the links in the section.
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