Book Review: Money & Marriage by Matt Bell

This is one of those books I wish I would have followed the advice of nine years ago when we first got married.  I can’t say that much of the information in it was new to me, but the advice is sound and if we would have followed it years ago we would be in a very different situation financially right now.

As with most books I’ve read on the topic of money management, this book instructs couples to develop and stick with a budget, pay down (and stay out of debt), and give money to the church and other ministries.  It has some specific suggestions on how to allocate money to cover expenses by percentage and by income level (ie, a certain percentage towards housing and car and insurance), which is very helpful.  But the most informative section of the book was when it discussed outside (personal experiences and culture) and inside influences (personality type/temperament) on our finances.  The book also includes a lot of worksheets and guides which are intended to be used by the reader to help identify needs, develop a budget, and keep track of spending.  I can honestly say I fully intend to implement some of the tools in this book.  It was well written, easy to understand and read, and gave solid advice from both a financial and spiritual standpoint.  I would highly recommend this to any couple who is engaged or newly married, but I think it is also good for couples to read who struggle in the area of finances.  Statistics tell us that the number one reason for divorce (ie, a failed marriage) is disagreements over finances, so for those couples who struggle with this it would be a great resource to begin the conversation towards working some of those issues out.

Over all, I’ll give it a 4.5/5 stars.  For the record, For the record, I did receive a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest (though not necessarily favorable) review.