Did you know that a lot of couples don’t talk about money? Seriously, people have lived with each other for years, gone on vacations, attended numerous family functions, you name it. We do a lot of stuff with our significant others, and many of us still find it challenging to have discussions about money.
Let me tell you a story about my lovely wife, TiYanna. We dated for quite a few years before we got married, and I made it very clear that we would not be that couple that didn’t talk about money. It took us some time to get into the money talks, but like most couples, there was one outing that changed our relationship forever and forced us to talk.
If you’re like most couples, you avoid the money conversation until there’s a blowup. I’ll never forget the day it happened to us. We had gone out to dinner one night and had yet to discuss who would pay for the meal. This is probably an issue for most couples unless you’ve had “the talk” already. Some people say the man should always pay, while some women don’t mind paying. On this particular dinner outing, I didn’t necessarily want to go out to eat that night. So, in my head, I assumed TiYanna wouldn’t mind getting the bill. (Assuming things in a relationship, big mistake!)
The waitress brings the bill and lays it on the table close to me. I don’t know if it was intentional, but I believe the waitress was on that “the man is always supposed to pay” thing. I immediately slid the bill back into the middle of the table. I then asked TiYanna if she would be okay with paying since I didn’t want to go out to eat. She gave me this look that indicated she wasn’t trying to pay. I quickly came up with what I think is the best way to solve simple problems in relationships (try it out sometime.) We would play rock, paper, scissors, and the loser would pay. Usually, I like playing one time, but TiYanna always pressed to do 2-out-of-3 if she lost the first match. She lost the first match, then tied it up, and then I closed it out with a victory. Oh, I forgot to tell you, the waitress stood right there while we were in battle.
That waitress couldn’t stop laughing at us. She couldn’t believe two adults were playing this childish game to solve a minor dispute. However, that incident changed our relationship forever. After that night, it sparked a larger conversation that we had to have about going out to eat. We weren’t married yet, but I knew at that time I would marry TiYanna. I didn’t want this to be an issue for the rest of our lives. So, immediately after TiYanna lost that game of rock paper scissors, she immediately said, “Joint account!”
The #BuildWealth Movement™ works tirelessly to Disrupt Generational Poverty™ for everyone so their kids, kids, kids can live a life of privilege.