This Is the No. 1 Way to Improve Your Marriage
You've probably noticed that you and your spouse don't always see eye-to-eye. Maybe he talks too much – or not enough. She feels hot while you're shivering cold. Or maybe leaving early is rare because your spouse is always running late.
If you're not careful, those differences can drive you apart. Petty disagreements can easily turn into full-grown battles that bleed a relationship dry.
Financial expert Dave Ramsey, our guest on today's program, says the turmoil those differences cause are most apparent when it comes to finances.
He's right: Studies show conflict over money is the number one cause of divorce in American homes.
That's because money is not a passive part of marriage. It represents a couple's value system and dictates how that family operates. Ramsey calls it a family's "checkbook autobiography." Where your money goes says a lot about what's important to you.
That's why when couples aren't on the same page with one another about how money should be spent, their relationship suffers. It pushes the couple apart.
But there is good news.
If conflict over money is the number one source of marriage trouble, coming into agreement about finances becomes the number one opportunity to improve our relationships. Fixing that one area of communication can take a good marriage and make it great – or it can lift one that's struggling to a new level of healing.
On today and tomorrow's broadcast, "Getting a Handle on Your Family Finances," Dave Ramsey helps couples learn how to compromise and find middle ground in this crucial area of their marriage.
The benefits are more than just some extra money in the bank. "When you agree on your spending," Ramsey says, "you're agreeing on your dreams. And when that happens, you get oneness and unity in your marriage."
And that is worth all the effort.