Don’t Go It Alone {Day 13 of 21 Days of Hope + Help for Your Money}

This is Day 13 of 21 Days of Hope + Help for Your Money, a series providing you encouragement and tips to start the year off on a note of hope. Catch up on previous posts here. For future posts, come back daily or subscribe to have them emailed directly to you.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller

Do you work on your finances alone? (For the record, I’m not addressing a particular marital status here.) Married, single, divorced, widowed—whatever your relationship status is—are you going it alone? Are you pretty much the only one who knows what’s what with your money?

It’s extremely common to fall into the rhythm of handling your money on your own. If you’re married and you and your spouse don’t exactly see eye-to-eye about your finances, it may seem “easier” just to do everything yourself. If you’re single and handling everything on your own anyway, it’s natural to want to keep things that way.

But the risk you run with handling your money entirely on your own is that without the input of others, you operate in a vacuum. You don’t have the benefit of another voice, opinion, or perspective. No one to offer insight, caution, or accountability.

The result? You won’t see the progress you hope to see—or worse—you can make mistakes that have a significant negative impact on your finances. Unfortunately, that is why countless stories exist of married couples in which one spouse hid massive amounts of debt from the other or where singles led a financial “double life” unbeknownst to their loved ones.

On the other hand, when you allow someone into your money matters, whether it’s your spouse, a trusted friend, or a professional, you gain so much—merely from having another party involved.

If you’re the only one that knows what’s going on behind your closed “financial doors,” it’s time to open them up a bit. It’s time to stop going it alone.

Action Step

Get a “Money Buddy”

Find someone who can be your ”money buddy” or accountability partner. This is a trusted friend, relative, or professional with whom you share your money goals, can check in with at regular intervals, and who can offer some insight into your situation.

Married couples, this would naturally be your spouse, although if you both could benefit from having someone else involved, then bring someone into the mix.