Home > Personal Finance > Unconventional Financial Advice For Newly Weds

Before I start my article, I'd like to share a word of caution here. The advice that I am about to share is not conventional. I know that. However, it is tried and true based on my experience as a real estate agent who have served many newly weds and their real estate needs.

If I were a newly wed and thinking about purchasing my first home, I would purchase a house based on one person's income. I would create a budget and live on that person's income. I would pay off debts or save the other person's income as much and as fast as I could. Again, I understand that this advice may work in a lower standard of living such as Texas and the mid-west. Perhaps if you are in Manhattan or California, this advice may not apply to you. I know that.

Why My Unconventional Advice? 

When starting a new life together (just the two of you now), the goal is to pay off as much debt as possible. Hopefully, the end result is to be debt-free before the children enters the picture. When the children arrives, one parent could have the option of staying home if you so choose. Work and children then becomes a matter of choice not "need".

I have seen many young families who tells me that they wished they could stay home. Based on my mathematical calculation and what I know of typical families of America today, they have one or two car payments, ($500 - $1,000), they have credit card debts, another $500-$1,000 (minimum payments of credit cards combined), and day care for one or two children ($800 - $1,400). That could easily be almost a full-pay of one parent (a whopping $1,800 - $3,400)! If you work so hard just to make payments for these items, aren't you better off just to stay home? You can if you take this unconventional advice.

The media is painting that the world is coming to an end because our failing economy. We, the Americans are blaming everyone else but ourselves for the decisions we make. The sub-prime mortgages that totally disappeared today were made for people who shouldn't have received these loans in the first yet. Yet, this affected so many people and trillions of dollars. A home should be a blessing. You should enjoy the times and memories made in the house, so worrying about making payments should be one of the last thing you should prevent right from the get-go.

Start off right. I have never heard anyone regretted saving money when they did. I have never heard anyone regret making choices to stay home to nurture their children. Yes, you can do it!

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