Everyone meet Mary Fritz! She is a CPA for an amazing company! She works long hard hours during tax season, but is an avid traveler the rest of the year! This girl is brilliant, gorgeous and the most fun human being! And she happens to be one of my best friends! I have had the pleasure of knowing her for many, many years and she is such a genuine person. Today she is going to share some VERY useful tips with us! Newlywed tips, traveling on a budget tips, and the importance of having a budget as a couple! Lets dive right in!

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Newlywed Tips

What are your 5 tips for newlyweds?

1. Keep God at the center of your marriage. Basing your marriage on your spouse will only leave you disappointed and brokenhearted when the day comes you realize your spouse is not your savior.
2. Be patient with each other. Marriage is a learning process.
3. Keep dating each other. I mean actively pursue each other daily. Routine can be so comfortable and safe, but having new adventures together continues to draw you close to each other.
4. Joint everything. Sharing finances creates dependence on each other. It forces you to talk about expectations and goals and helps make sure you are both on the same path. This creates accountability. More importantly, it creates another layer of intimacy in your relationship.
5. Strive to be content with what you and spouse have at the beginning of your marriage. There is time in the future to get a better apartment, have kids, buy a house, get a dog, etc. Marriage is an adjustment and it needs to be prioritized, especially when you are just trying to figure out how to live with each other.

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The Importance Of Having A Budget As A Couple

What is the importance of having a budget as a couple?

Genesis 2:23 – 24 “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” So when we get married we are just two people together right??? (extreme sarcasm)… God’s design for marriage is one flesh. This is unity in all things, including your finances.

We can see in life what our priorities are when we review what we are spending our resources on (both money and time). For example, do you spend $100 a month on a gym membership? If so, I can assume you are trying to prioritize your physical wellbeing. In making a budget, you and your spouse have to have conversations regarding your priorities as a couple.

You have to be vulnerable with each other.

At first, your individual priorities may not line up with each other. That to be expected, but work to figure out what you as a couple are going to prioritize. Then, follow up. Every month review what you actually spent. Determine what actually happened versus what you wanted to happen or what you had budgeted. Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” There can be great joy in setting a budget, realizing you stuck to it, and meeting your goals. It will cause joy in your marriage seeing you work your way together towards something you wanted.

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Best Tips For Traveling On A Budget

I love to travel! I hate to pack, but I love to travel!

One of the best ways to travel on a budget is to travel with friends. The last few years I have really connected with friends who share my traveling heart. We’ve made a goal to take a big trip once a year or so. So far we have done three: Pacific Northwest, east coast trip (PA to ME), and New Orleans. When you travel with other people, transportation and housing typically gets significantly cheaper.

Flights

Flights are usually our most expensive budget item. However, it does wonders to determine where you want to go first, and then research airfare to that place to determine the best time of year to go and best time to buy. Budget airlines are okay. No, they are not going to have your favorite snacks on hand or the most comfortable seats, but they will get you where you want to go (or at least close). This has been the biggest cost saver for us. Instead of packing suitcases, we pack one small carry on (backpack or duffel bag). We bring our own snacks and we coordinate things like hairdryers to make sure we don’t bring 3 instead of 1. Layovers typically happen with these airlines, but we embrace it and bring books and snacks to enjoy while we await our next flight.

Housing

Also, think outside the box for housing. AirBnB has so many options. It can be uncomfortable staying your first few times if you aren’t used to the idea, but it can also really be worth it. When we have traveled to more expensive cities (like Vancouver, BC) we have opted to share an apartment. This option is typically much cheaper than renting the whole house. We had a small bedroom for the three of us and were sharing living spaces with the owner. You know what? It was not great, BUT we didn’t have to spend a lot of time with our AirBnB host. We weren’t in Vancouver to see the inside of her apartment. Also, only having a small bag, we didn’t have to leave things at the AirBnB.

Food

My last big tip is food expense. If you don’t normally eat at Michelin Star restaurants, why are you while you travel? Trust me, I love me some food, but I also know there is a time and a place for nice meals like that. If we are traveling on a budget, we can find other options. For example, have you ever been to a city without some kind of grocery store or local market? One of the biggest ways to save money is to buy food at the store when you arrive. Now, if you are traveling between places every day, then it will not be as practical to load up for the week.

However, stopping in and grabbing some food from the deli or grabbing some fresh fruit to snack on is so much cheaper than even fast food or grabbing a snack at the gas station. If you have a car during your trip, it can be so easy to buy a little styrofoam cooler from the store and some ice and keep lunch meat and cheese as an option to have on hand.

Traveling does not have to be expensive. It can be very expensive depending on where you want to go and how well you want to be pampered. If you are determined to travel and you need to be on a strict budget, be flexible and see what options are out there to do it more cost-effectively.

Mary Fritz

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If you missed our last guest writer, click here to read about how we should be looking at food.