Penny wise pound foolish

Recently my husband and I needed to put a lot of things in order at the home front but we didn’t have all the money at once. He came home one day and told me he had some money on him, so we should get one of the things needed which was the least; I told him rather let us wait and add a little amount to it then we can get something bigger. He agreed and long story short, we never got that little one or the big one I was aiming for because other expenses came up and I learned a lot about finances and marriage through that singular incident.

This incident came to mind when I went to my cousin’s house and she was showing me two new cars in the compound, according to her the cars belong to her neighbor whose husband had died. The man was a car salesman. while he was alive he saw the wife had a flair for drawing fashion styles. He came up with the idea of opening an outfit for her where she was to employ tailors to bring her designs to life but she felt the money can be put into more important uses and that was how the dream was shelved till never. When he got sick it was a sickness that demanded lots of attention and finances. He died leaving her drained in every way. His brothers came to take over the properties hence the cars that were hidden at my cousin’s house. she resorted to selling off valuables to make up.

That same month another neighbor was thrown out of her matrimonial home with nothing; her husband had insisted she leaves her job when they got married because he wanted a full-time housewife, well fifteen years and two children later, they came back from church and she was preparing the usual fresh vegetable soup and pounded yam just the way the man insists must be done every Sunday when he picked a quarrel about the delay in the food and how she was generally useless in life with no ambition but to sit at home and spend his money. He angrily picked up his car keys and stormed out and that was it. Months later she comes online to see his wedding invitation. He is remarried now and she came back home one day with her children to see the gate locked. Oga needed to create space for the new wife, fortunately for her, she got a job and she is picking up her life with her children.

My former landlady lost her husband who was well to do but when he died she and the children were stranded with no other source of income, she had no clue what her husband owns and he didn’t bother telling her. One of his friends knew of one of his lands, his office helped in building a house on the land for them (they lived in the company quarters when he was alive). Accommodation sorted, she had to learn a trade to augment with rent for fees and feeding.

what do you think were the issues of the above stories?

How does it apply to your situation now

We live in an era of rapt attention to details, whether single or married what are your priorities before and after marriage?

What are you bringing to the table where you are?

If an agreement has been reached between you and your spouse, what is the short/ long term goal and what is the plan in case of unforeseen circumstances?

Do you think investing in you is a waste of resources?

What do you know about investments?