5 Big Expenses in The First Year of Marriage

Getting married is a life-changing event. It is that turning point where you decide to share your life with another person. A shared life entails sharing success, responsibility and consequences together. As such, it is important to be aware of the state of your combined finances.

Ideally, you and your partner should sit down and have a conversation about your individual financial situation. Monthly income and expenses should be transparent so that there are no surprises later. Any investments, long term or short term that either of you have made should also be discussed. As should be any debts or liabilities that you bring to the marriage.

Such a dialogue would allow you to take informed financial decisions. It gives you an idea about how much you can expect to save and how much you have in hand to spend. You can evaluate your future course of action and assess your spending capacity. You get an idea about how much disposable income you have to spend on peripheral things.

For instance- where can you go for your honeymoon? Somewhere close by that you can drive down to or can you afford Switzerland, the dream destination of all honeymooners? Or, you need a vehicle, so do you buy a small car or a two-wheeler?

Once you sit down and go over your income you should also list some of your expenses. Let us go over a few.

Initial Expenses After Marriage

Travel

Travelling together as a couple can be very exhilarating. As soon as you get married, your travel together starts with honeymoon. Since this typically involves exotic locations and staying at high-end hotels it makes sense to plan ahead. When you sit down and look at your finances it allows you to decide how much disposable income you have and budget your honeymoon accordingly.

Apart from your honeymoon you would be expected to visit immediate family members. If they live very far then you might have no choice but to travel by air. Air travel is more expensive than going by road or rail, this adds to your expense. Also, you tend to take many short vacations during weekends. All this makes travelling take a big slice of your expenses.

Housing

After your honeymoon you would want to pick a place to stay together. Most newly married couple pick up a two-bedroom apartment. It would allow them to have overnight guests easily. Housing is another big expense. Be prepared to shell out 10 months of your monthly rent as advance. While this is negotiable it makes sense to be prepared for the worst. The neighbourhood you pick to stay also influences your rent. If necessary, stay away from the center of the city so that you can find reasonable rents.

Furniture And Appliance

Once you have decided on the house the next big expense is buying furniture. Basic furniture like bed, sofa, dining table and chairs are needed to make your house more comfortable and livable. You can buy this over a period of time depending on your financial situation.

You would also need to buy the essentials for starting up your kitchen. The biggest expense would be the appliances like fridge, stove, mixer/grinder and a microwave. Basic set of utensils that you would require for cooking and cutlery also has to be purchased. Apart from this you might also need a washing machine and an air conditioner.

EMI Payments

EMI payments or Equated Monthly Installments for home or vehicle or other household appliances that you need to pay would add to your monthly expenses. Any student loan with the bank should also be taken into consideration. Being a recurring expense you should look at how long the period is for repayment.

If your EMI is very high you should look at other options. In certain cases you will be able to switch your loan to a different bank that offer a lesser interest rate. Apart from EMIs you have to make monthly payments for your utilities like electricity, cooking gas, phone bills, mainterance and any monthly subscription you may have. For example: cable and periodicals

Unforeseen Expenses

It is always best to be prepared for any sort of crisis. You or your spouse could have a medical emergency. Or it could be the loss of a family member. At a time like this it will be useful to have cash ready to tide through.

Another possibility is that you or your spouse could lose your job. This would bring down your income very drastically. And it would take a while to land back on your feet if the economy is doing badly.

Sometimes, despite all the precautions you could have an unplanned pregnancy. This would all contribute to unforeseen expenses. Life can throw you a curve ball any time. Be ready to face them by having a good credit option available. MoneyTap’s personal line of credit gives you the advantage of having ready credit on your app while charging interest only on the amount borrowed.

To conclude, planning ahead by preparing for initial big expenses after marriage is the best way to start out your married life.

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