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There are few guarantees in marriage, but one of them is this: You’ll have to spend much time discussing your household’s finances with your spouse. It doesn’t matter the age you marry, your commitment means you’ll have to share in the good and the bad. You may have to share your spouse’s credit card debt, student loans, child support commitments and other messy financial troubles – or it could be the other way around where you subject your spouse to your financial woes.

You might be tempted to shelve the topic of your finances for as long as possible. A history of poor financial management may put a damper on romance, after all. But even if you’ve both managed to keep your financial profile intact, marriage links both your finances, so it’s a topic that deserves some thoughtful discussion.

As a start, you’ll have to address questions like: Who will pay the bills? How will you share the expenses? What are your plans for saving? Will you combine finances?

The tips below will help newly married couples to manage their joint financial status and avoid the pitfalls that affect so many couples. Discuss your financial matters today to ensure marital bliss later on.

Commit to Saving A Percentage Of Your Household Income

Don’t assume that you’ll always have the income you now enjoy. Sudden interruptions in your income – whether voluntary or involuntary- may be lurking around the corner. In this uncertain economic climate, there’s the possibility of losing your job. One of you might decide to go back to school or stay at home to care for the children. You’ll have more options if you have a substantial amount of money saved. Your savings will guarantee that you avoid a sharp drop in your lifestyle when one salary is no longer available.

Commit to saving a percentage of your income every month, and stick to your commitment.

Compare Spending Habits

Your spouse might not share your beliefs about money; his spending habits may come as a complete surprise. Spouses who have different financial values need to spend a lot of time discussing their finances. This includes talks about spending habits, debt, and how to manage it.

Plan A Budget

A budget will help to curb unnecessary spending and point out exactly where your money goes. Discuss your financial goals before you build your budget. This will help you to include a plan for meeting those goals.

Get Rid Of Debt

Have a plan to pay off credit cards and student loans. Clearing your debt is the first step towards achieving the goals you’ve set as a couple.

Purchase Life Insurance

You might be uncomfortable discussing the subject of death, but you need to be prepared if the unthinkable happens. Life insurance will protect your finances if your spouse should pass away.

Combine Your Policies

Combine all your insurance policies under one provider and save money. For instance, companies will give you a discount if you combine your car insurance, health insurance and life insurance.

Start a Retirement Fund

It is never too early to start planning for retirement. Make an appointment with a financial advisor to discuss your options.

Live within your means and you’ll enjoy years of marital bliss.

Barry Johnson is a personal finance consultant. His articles mainly appear on money blogs.

Most people know how important it is to have life insurance and to protect your assets, but an often overlooked aspect is protecting the most important asset you have – your income.

Most people heavily depend on their monthly income to provide for their family, pay off loan debts and keep up with other financial responsibilities.

The important thing to remember is that you can never know what could happen – and have to be prepared to handle your family’s financial situation if something were to go wrong.

Just ask yourself a few simple questions – what would you do if you’d become ill and wouldn’t be able to work for a few months? Would you still be able to provide sufficiently for your family?

A month or two may not seem like a lot of time – it could be a relatively minor mishap as a severe case of the flu or a broken leg, something that would keep you from working, and that could still have disastrous consequences on your family’s financial state.

What about an even worse scenario – if something was to happen to you and you wouldn’t be able to work again, either because of a permanent injury or death – how would you provide for your family?

Also, would you be able to set up your kids for their future – pay for their education?

Think about these questions and then it will become clear to you if you need health insurance. Basically, if you don’t have a really significant amount in savings and are dependent on your consistent income to meet all of your financial responsibilities, income protection is one of the most important things in making sure your family will be taken care of, no matter what.

There are plenty different plans you can choose from, but you should make sure that you got all the possible scenarios covered.

That includes short term income replacement – when you would be insured for the full or at least a significant amount of your monthly income and would be compensated for the period that you’d be unable to work.

You also need insurance in case something were to happen that makes you unable to work ever again – your family would have to be provided for, so insurance with a payout in the case of disability of death is also very important.

Finally, consider that not all expenses are direct – for instance, even if you wouldn’t consider your children’s education a regular expense, you still have to save money in order to provide for them, so you have to have an income protection plan that would cover the costs that will arise in the future – that, for instance, if something were to happen to you, your children would still get the proper education.

These are just a few examples of why income protection can be such a valuable asset – after all, in the year 2013 you can never be sure about your financial situation because of the still unstable economy, so protecting your family in as many ways as you can is critical.

Income protection is just another way of getting a little safer – this way you can create at least a few safety nets that will cushion the financial hit if something unexpected were to happen.

Romayne Warner is a full time self-employed blogging fanatic. Obsessed with finding small ways to save money every day, she enjoys sharing her frugal lifestyle tips and tricks with the world, she regularly writes about saving money.

Obtaining zero down auto loans might seem impossible if you have bad credit but it can be done. You’ll just have to work a little harder when it comes to finding a perfect dealership that accepts bad credit. There could be 2-4 dealerships in your city that will accept bad credit so it’s always a good idea to call around. Ask some of your friends where they got their first car when they were younger and didn’t have good credit. They’ll give you a few places that you can use so cross your fingers that they are still in business.

In order to obtain a zero down auto loans, you can always get a co-signer. This is basically a person who will take responsibility for the vehicle if you do not pay. Being a co-signer is a huge job and most people will not want to sign because they don’t want to take the risk. So seriously, how can you get someone to sign for you? This is fairly easy – just ask one of your family members or a very close friend. There are some people who are willing to sign and they know where to find you in case you don’t pay up. This is why you should make sure you can get a car you can afford.

There are many cars available on the lot. Remember that you will have to pay monthly so the car can be anywhere from $150 to even $500. We don’t recommend paying $500 a month for a vehicle because most of the time, this will be out of your budget. Low payments are considered to be anywhere from $150 to $250. Middle range goes up to $350 while anything more than that might seem ridiculous for someone who is not expecting to pay a lot of money. Most cars that are brand new will be on the high end and this is why a used car is best.

To get zero down auto loans, you should be able to show a good proof of income. Since you have bad credit, the dealership will need to prove that you are working each day and that your income is more than the car payments are each month. Remember to write everything down accurately on your application, otherwise you could be denied. You obviously don’t want to purchase a car that you are not able to pay for. A car salesman will only show you cars that fit your budget and if you want something that is a little better like GPS or some car that is upgraded, this may be difficult to get.

Almost everyone pays a down payment at the dealership. Those with good credit don’t have to. Since you are a liability, you probably will have to put a down payment on the car. Now, you can always talk your way out of this. If you have an old junk car, you can always trade this for the down payment. Most dealerships will be able to accept these car and sometimes sell them for parts to other companies. They will look over your car and see if it’s worthwhile.

No one wants to give a down payment most of the time and some people will try to get around it when it comes to zero down auto loans. You can simply say to the dealer that you have good credit so you won’t be a problem in case something were to happen. They can work with you and even lift the down payment so you’ll be only paying for the car each month. A down payment is only used to protect the dealership in case anything happens to the car. People with bad credit will almost always have to pay a down payment before they actually get to drive the car anywhere but this is not the case for you so don’t let a car salesman push you for a down payment. Most dealerships can do without.

Overall, it is always a good idea to get everything organized before you walk into the dealership and demand cars with zero down auto loans. Gather up all of your income stubs and a recent credit report if you don’t want to wait for the credit approval process. You can also call them to give them your details and they can run the credit approval beforehand. Otherwise, you will need to wait a few days and this will delay the process of getting a vehicle so if you need a car quickly, always make sure you are prepared. By showing them all of your documents, they can give you a car without any down payment.

You work hard for the money you earn, so saving money might not be a priority. However, it is important that you have an emergency fund in case the unexpected should occur. My mentor and first boss at my management training program taught me these five reasons you should have emergency savings.

1. You lose your job: With the struggling economy, companies are being forced to lay off employees. Just because you are an outstanding employee does not mean you are not susceptible to unemployment. In addition, you could be the victim of health issues, so you cannot work. Whatever the reason, having an emergency fund will help pay the bills while you are not working.

2. Medical Bills: You never know when you will encounter a major medical condition. You could be diagnosed with a disease, or you could be in an accident that could result in serious injuries. Your medical insurance will only last for so long before you are required to pay the bill. A savings fund will help you pay the mortgage and other bills, so you can avoid foreclosure.

3. Your car decides to quit: You are driving down the road, and you hear a loud clanging noise. You take your car to the mechanic, and the news is not good. You must have a car to get to work or to the store. You will then decide if it will be cheaper to get the car repaired or just buy a new one. Your emergency savings account will prevent you from going into debt.

4. A family member dies: If a loved one dies and you need to get to the funeral, you can dip into your emergency savings to purchase a plane ticket. If you drive, gas is expensive, so you will need extra money to cover the cost. You might also need to help cover funeral and burial expenses.

5. Home Repairs: Your air conditioning goes out in the middle of the summer, or your roof starts leaking during a flood. Your refrigerator might decide to quit working. In addition, you never know when your home insurance might suddenly increase. By having emergency savings, you will be able to pay the bill without putting it on your credit card or taking out a loan.

Emergency savings can prevent you from having serious debt problems or from selling off your assets. If you have invested in gold for instance then that’s something you want to be able to hold on to. You can use the money from your savings account rather than going deeper into debt. Saving money is important to prevent financial problems.

Dropping the financial ball is something that may happen inadvertently when we allow debt to go farther than we can run with it. Staying away from debt is sometimes hard because countless expenses sum up through the month and control can easily slip out of our hands. However, you can prevent this from happening and yet stay away from debt by simply analyzing your actual financial situation and the way that your organize your expenses.

Planning is the Key

You cannot anticipate unexpected expenses coming your way, but you can plan those that occur regularly to find out how much money you have to work with for something else. Creating a monthly budget is a great aid, because you cannot only plan the payment of bills, food, gas and daily living expenses, but also serves to determine how much money you can save, and make that money a cash fund to be used for unexpected expenses rather that borrowing money when an emergency takes place.

Avoid Loans Above All Else

No matter, if you are considering taking out an “inoffensive” payday loan, a personal loan, car loan, business loan, mortgage or home loan. Loans are usually the starting point for major financial problems even if you have the certainty that you can repay your debt. People often forget that if they are borrowing $100 will not have to repay $100 but a considerable amount after interest rate, finance fees and particularly with payday loans, very high interest rates.

Plastic Money is Dangerous

Another source of debt can be found in your credit cards. The more credit cards you have, the easier it is that you can become trapped in debt sooner or later. Be wise to use your credit cards only when you need them, even if you have only one, but if this not your case, determine which one charges the least in interest rates and make this your main credit card, but only to be used when you need are forced to pay with a credit card.

Cash is Still the Leader

No matter if people turn their heads back to you when paying with cash in a restaurant, do it anyway and you will be far from dropping the financial ball, as they probably have done sometimes. Cash is worth more than plastic money because it has immediate acquisitive power, can be use to buy almost anything, and does not generate interests.

If you stick to these simple principles, you will be on the right pathway to stay away from debt, and you can learn many other tips that will enhance your household economy.