5 things I wish I’d known before I got married

When Ashley and I walked down the aisle almost thirteen years ago, we had no idea what we were getting into! We were young and clueless, but we were in love and we figured that our enthusiasm and optimism would be enough to get us through the challenges of life. We soon learned that we were very unprepared!

Don’t get me wrong, Ashley and I have an amazing marriage, but we’ve also had to learn a lot of lessons the hard way. As I reflect back on the journey up to this point, I wish that I could climb in a time machine and tell myself some important lessons on my wedding day. Since I don’t have a time machine, I’m hoping that other folks will be able to learn from my mistakes and put these principles into practice from the very beginning of their marriage.

Below are 5 truths I wish I’d known before we got married. For additional marriage-building tools, subscribe to our email list at the top of this page and check out our new video series for married couples, “Best Sex Life Now” by clicking here. 

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1. You need a financial plan.

In the beginning, we didn’t have any money, so we naively assumed that we didn’t have a need for a plan for our money. Our lack of financial sense and discipline causes us to dig ourselves into a hole of debt in those early years and it created years of unnecessary stress as we dug our way back out. Start out with a plan. There are some great resources to help you at DaveRamsey.com