Share financial information with your spouse.
Don't let one person be in charge and the other be in the dark.
This will lead to an uneven partnership which is sure to cause jealousy and greed at worst or at least it is likely to cause insecurity.
Husbands and wives need to be equals for the partnership to work.
If one person knows everything about the finances and the other knows nothing, how can the two help each other during illness or in a financial crises.
When both are dependent on social security or retirement income, it becomes even more important to know what is available and how finances are managed so both can feel secure about the future.
If one partner doesn't know the budget, how can that person help keep the marriage financially strong.
During these recessionary times it is especially important to keep each other informed about where the marriage stands with money.
Organizing all the financial information and talking to each other about what money is used for what goals, would be a good step to making it available for both couples to see and understand.
Some happy couples are able to trade off the job of bill paying and savings etc.
They do the job for a year or two and then trade and the other spouse does Others split the bills and each pay some with both knowing the end goal.
It is clear that both knowing what the incoming and outgoing money is and where it is coming from, is very important to the partnership of marriage.