The Money Couple Minute - Dealing with a Budget Buster

We hear this story all the time: One partner puts a lot of work into creating a workable budget and the other partner breaks that budget by the second week of the month. It's a frustrating scenario to everyone involved and can often lead to financial infidelity.

Know your Money Personalities. Once you know how you approach money issues, you'll be better equipped to meet in the middle and find real solutions to your financial communication problems.

Get a clear picture of your budget. We find that when one partner is the "budget buster" it's usually because he or she has no real idea of how much money the couple has and how much disposable income is available.

Track your spending. The best way to solve this problem is to take one month and document your spending. Write down every cent that goes out-from the big ticket stuff like car payments and mortgages to the piddly stuff like packs of gum and double vanilla lattes. At the end of the month, look at where your money goes. Then talk about where you can cut back and find ways to compromise so that both of you can live with the changes you make.

You'll find more ideas for staying on track in First Comes Love, Then Comes Money.