Do You Have a Financial Accountability Partner?

Are you looking for someone to help hold you up during your hard financial times? Do you wish that you had someone who would be upfront and honest with you, but non-judgmental.

I think we all want to know somebody who is like this. I know that there have many times in my personal life that I just needed someone to talk to besides my spouse about money. I honestly needed to talk to a woman because they would know where I was coming from and would be able to understand my feelings more towards a certain situation.

What is an Accountability Partner

An accountability partner is just what it says. It is someone who is going to help hold you accountable for the spending choices you make in life.

There are different qualities that you need to look for when choosing a partner. Make sure you choose wisely.

What to Look for in an Accountability Partner

I have asked people who were drowning in debt just as much as we were for financial help. Now looking back that made no sense. Just like as a mom I don’t ask for parenting advice from people who don’t have kids, I also don’t ask for financial advice from friends who are not financially well off.

My husband and I search out friends who are living on a cash only basis and have a lot of money. We also seek friends who give their money away.

We look for friends who are going to be honest. I would have loved for someone to tell me not to purchase a $26,000 car when we were already $20,000+ in debt.

This would have been a great time to call an accountability partner and have them talk us down from this decision. I didn’t need someone telling me Oh, yeah. Go ahead and get the car. It’s so cute!

I needed someone to talk some sense into our senseless heads and tell us that we simply could not afford a $450/month car payment. Unfortunately, we made this poor decision anyways and learned the hard way.

Should You Just Have an Accountability Partner When Times are Tough?

Absolutely not! My husband and I are now debt free, except for our house, but we still have a couple of friends in church that we use to seek financial advice. Let me stop right here and also add that singles are not the only people who need accountability partners. It’s okay for couples to also seek out other couples when they have a financial question.

Maybe you want to know about refinancing your home, or how to pay off your house early, or a good financial adviser in town to help you with building up your IRA‘s. These are all positive questions that you may just now know where to find the answer.

Trust is a Key Factor

Make sure when choosing an accountability partner it is someone that you can trust. Can you think of someone that you told something to in secret and then it was spread all over the world? Don’t pick that person!  Sometimes, this even includes family members. I will not tell certain people in our family about our finances or family affairs just because I can’t trust that it will stay in the family.

My husband and I now talk to couples that we know have no desire to share our information all over the globe. They are people that we can trust with any kind of information we give them.  Trust is so vital because your finances are very personal, especially when it’s a bleak situation. The last thing you need when you’re already hurt and discouraged is to find out that everybody knows your business. So, trust is the key!

Do you have an accountability partner? If not, does it make you want to find one after reading this article?