The Good News about Newlywed Financial Struggles

Getting married is typically pretty stressful, and it’s understandable why! You are about to share your whole life with another person who is not a member of your family, and you are going to have to figure out how to combine your two lifestyles. You are also going to need a place to live, and if you are in college you’ll need to figure out how tuition will be paid. No wonder many people may postpone or wait to marry for financial reasons.

While it is important to save up some money for this life you will share with your sweetheart, I don’t believe that you have to wait until your are completely financially comfortable. While it is stressful to figure out how minimal funds will be spent and where they will come from, it can be a blessing to your relationship to go through this struggle together.

My Story With Marriage and Money

When my parents were first married, they were pretty poor, as most newlyweds going to college are. It was the same with both sets of my grandparents, and I just assumed it would be the same with me when I got married. Even though that sounds sad, I was actually quite excited to be poor with my new husband. I was excited to appreciate the little things we had and to slowly grow our humble abode and lives together. 

After our honeymoon, we moved into our little apartment. It was unfurnished, so we had to find a mattress the same day we moved in, as well as move all our stuff from a crowded storage unit to our home. It was very exciting to think that we were, in a way, building our first home together. It was fun to figure out where to put the dishes in the kitchen, where to hang the pictures, and where to put our clothes.

We soon realized that the closets were not big enough for all the clothes we had, so we bought an old dresser from Deseret Industries that cost us only $15. (That gives you an idea of how high the quality it was.) It was a dinky little thing, but we were just so eager to have a place to put our stuff that we didn’t care. In addition to the dresser, we bought a drawer set to put in our bathroom cabinet since there were no other drawers or cabinets to put our hygiene supplies in. Much of our bathroom supplies actually lived in a cardboard box for a few weeks. As for the kitchen, we did not have a table, but we had an excess amount of storage bins which we stacked on top of each other. When we ate, we sat on some lovely camping chairs that we got as a wedding gift. We laughed at our little makeshift dining room and sent pictures to our parents. 

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We knew we needed to get a source of income as soon as possible so that we could pay for rent. Thankfully, I had a job lined up for me after our honeymoon, and Chase easily got a job with Walmart. After working a few weeks, we were able to get moving financially and purchase more of the things we needed.

Blessings From Marrying Even Though We Were Poor

Although this feeble beginning of our marriage could have resulted in fear and distress, we chose to move forward and focus on what mattered most: our relationship with God and with each other. By doing so, we received many blessings from our first few months of marriage when funds were tight:

• Energy and stamina needed to earn a living while going to school
• Appreciation for the little things we had in life
• Appreciation for each other’s efforts
• Unity in our marriage and financial decisions
• More opportunities to communicate about our needs and desires
• Strengthened relationship that was stronger than if we had married with everything we needed (“Love is what you go through together” – Jeffery R. Holland)
• Greater gratitude for the generous gifts from family members and friends
• Experience in learning how to manage money wisely
• Greater gratitude for and faith in God and His willingness to help His children

To Sum It Up…

I truly believe that God allows newlyweds and families to struggle to provide them opportunities to come closer together. Although some difficult adjustments are needed during challenging times, relationships can be bound even stronger when these adjustments are made together. Christ says to us, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10). When we struggle to see the joy and blessings that come from change, Christ is there to help us along and make our struggles and relationships worth it.