…And Knowing When Not To
In the middle of my first date with Sam, he brought up that he was in an "interesting situation" and wanted my opinion. His ex-wife (who he was still friends with) had just asked him to co-sign a mortgage for her and her new husband. Yep, I had never heard that one before… And although I was a bit surprised that he wanted my opinion when we barely knew each other, I totally dove in, and we ended up having a really good conversation about it. It crossed my mind that maybe he was trying to get me to think he was a good guy for considering lending them money, and in the end, that's exactly how I felt.
On date two, he gave me a brief update that he had wisely decided not to co-sign the loan, and we went on to have a really good time. But then on date number three, Sam revealed that before his ex remarried, he would often lend her money. She had paid him back for some of the loans but not others, and there was one outstanding loan from three years ago that he really wanted back. This conversation went on through most of dinner, and by the end of it, I realized there may be a much bigger issue going on - one that I had no interest in exploring…
When Not to Talk About Personal Finances
While the whole spirit and message of Fab & Fru is to encourage people to talk more about money, there is a time and a place for everything. Talking about your personal finances to people you don't know well can be tricky, because our personal finances are just that - personal. And even if you're comfortable sharing, if you don't know your audience well, you may give off the wrong impression.
What Are You Really Saying?
Let's take my situation with Sam. At first I didn't mind talking about the potential pitfalls of co-signing a loan for someone or how to ask for your money back from a loved one. However, after several hours of talking about it just over the course of three dates, I couldn't help but wonder if any of this was really about money at all. Sam had unresolved issues with his ex wife. Was he still in love with her? Was this his way of staying connected to her or feeling in control? Was it a power move, or did he need to feel needed? It doesn't really matter if any of my thoughts were true. The result was, I started to question his intentions, and unfortunately, I started to analyze and judge.Read more to find out the CORRECT way to talk about money!
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