How can couples stay financially happy ever after?

Cue Louis Armstrong: “You like to-may-to. I like to-mah-to. Let’s call the whole thing off.”

Yup, there is only one way. And I think, deep down, y’all know what it is.

So, walk up to your partner, say thanks for the lovely, if sometimes challenging, times you’ve shared and have a kiss. Then call it quits. “It’s not you. It’s not me. It’s the whole fiscal fighting thing. Here’s 20 bucks. I’ve called you a cab. Your mother is expecting you.”

Too harsh? Like Louis says, it’s probably better to be together and disagreeing than any alternative. And good relationships can apparently bring in big bucks!

Couples fight. But the nastiest blues, and the biggest threats to relationships, can be financial fisticuffs. I don’t think couples, money and happily ever after (suggesting Cinderella and Prince Charming perfection) can exist together peacefully forever.

People’s financial habits are almost as unique as DNA. Individuals can have similarities, but dig a little and you’ll discover chasms.

So, how do you stem the inevitable bloodshed? There’s no one right way. Communicate, budget and negotiate expenditure priorities. But consider the following.

Take the red wine test. Open a bottle, sit down and go “back to the future”. Talk about what you’d like your finances to look like when you start to get all old and wrinkly.

Now, how do you get there from here? Set some goals and start to budget towards them.

But, for Pete’s sake, not at Easter, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries.

Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and principal adviser with Castellan Financial Consulting.