Tag: newlywed

They say when you marry your spouse you marry their family. While this is a common statement, it is still often underestimated how true this really is.

As a marriage therapist, it always amazes me on how little attention is invested in really getting to know one’s future in-laws, understanding their feelings and getting to know the family he/she is about to marry into. During the dating period, the main idea is to make a good impression and get an endorsement, so to speak.

I always told my friends that a widower would make the best husband. I generalized that most widowers had probably been in long-term marriages and deeply committed to their wives. If a man could love and adore his first wife, it made sense to me that he could love and adore a second wife. I never dreamed I’d actually marry one, though!

Ahhhhh… the absolute bliss of being a newlywed! Every day is sheer perfection. Life couldn’t be rosier!

I know that the honeymoon will never be over in my marriage! I’m laughing out loud, because—as most newlyweds like myself will attest—the early days of marriage are not always smooth.

As you read, maybe you’ll find yourself commiserating with me, and maybe you’ll just shake your head and laugh. In sharing my laughable journey with you, I hope to help other couples feel not so alone—or at least not altogether "abnormal." In fact, there’s a comforting, humbling humanness in sharing my personal experiences from the inside out.

For a young married couple looking to branch out during this credit crunch, some things couples take for granted during prosperous times may seem harder to attain—including the purchase of a home. These days, many couples are considering putting this dream on hold until the housing market becomes less volatile. The truth is, though, that interest rates are at near historic lows and home prices are dropping, and now is an ideal time to seriously consider purchasing a first home.

Owning your home can be a critical step toward building a sound financial structure for your new life together. Why keep paying rent when you can—hopefully—build equity? There are also important tax advantages linked with buying a home, including the ability to write off mortgage interest and property tax expenses. Plus, there’s now the incentive of the First Time Homebuyers Credit from the federal government.