Don’t move to the UK till you read this!
I was in a friend consultancy meeting, and a lady (a fellow Nigerian migrant) said she was getting a divorce. I can vividly remember they moved to the UK in under four years.
OK!
What is the problem?
She told her story, which is private. The primary cause of their divorce is money.
They have a combined loan of £24k and are already missing payments, and the bank has sent them a debt transfer letter. This means CCJ (county court judgment) is about to appear on their credit score reports. Both of them cannot afford the loan repayments now.
Let me stop here because this blog is not about their issues.
I want to let you know what poor financial literacy can do to your marriage.
Immediately you find yourself as a partner (wife or husband, or in a civil partnership) settling in the United Kingdom, keep tabs on the following:
- Understand your partner’s relationship with money
I just discovered that many couples don’t know each other financial literacy level. They also don’t care till the effects of their ignorance about themselves start drilling holes in their marriage.
If your partner’s relationship with money is poor, you can manage it with them. Be open about it. Don’t mock your partner with it. Once you do that, your partner might hide essential facts about their money issues. Immediately this starts happening. You will have many money problems you cannot handle.
2. Engage each other in money topics
Be very truthful about your money issues.
Learn how to open money conversations to understand your partner’s pulse about money.
The United Kingdom’s money system is different, and so is its economy.
It is easier to borrow money from a dead goat than to ask friends to raise rent and feeding funds for you and your family in the United Kingdom. Discuss money issues, bill payments, and other family and leisure expenses. The discourse will afford you the knowledge to know the total amount of money available and allocate it in their order of priority.
3. It is better to be on the same page with your partner about money
Create a family budget and stick with it. The United Kingdom is unlike the United States of America workers walk into their boss’s offices to ask for a salary raise. Most United Kingdom corporations have what is known as a salary band. Once you take a job, you already know your ‘expected’ income for the month or year. In other western countries like USA or Canada, there is always room for negotiations as you start working and taking up some valuable responsibilities. In the United Kingdom, government-owned NHS has what is called Find NHS Pay Bands 2022/23 (nhsbands.co.uk)
You will get paid according to the band you were employed to start with till you’re eligible for pay progressions.
So you must stick to a planned budget that your salaries as a couple can accommodate. You can read all about making a budget here – https://womibablog.com/2022/08/31/budget-made-easy/
4. You don’t need money stress if you want to grow in the United Kingdom
In so many ways, money is the issue of why many Nigerian migrants stay stagnant. The United Kingdom works with a system that requires money and time at all levels. You will need to remain in the United Kingdom for some years before you’re entitled to many things, e.g., council housing, earning benefits, and even being allowed to get government higher education funding. This means you have to fund everything by yourself. Government cannot support you with accommodation or family domestic bills. If you move into the United Kingdom without a plan on how to fix all your home bills, money stress might keep you down forever if anything goes wrong between you and your partner. Here are government websites to read for more information Income support – Help for Households (campaign.gov.uk) and Council housing: immigration and habitual residence conditions – Shelter England
5. Discuss and agree on all domestic bills
Not doing so will bring problems and might make you accumulate debts. The first rule of thumb is to keep all your accounts separate and then open one joint account where both of you will save money to sort all the bills out. Be very rigid with this number 5. Don’t compromise with your bank accounts. A poor credit score report can stop you from getting many things, e.g., Mortgage, personal or business loans from the bank.
6. Don’t borrow money for your spouses
If your partner cannot borrow from the bank, this means your partner is not creditworthy. The second reason might be that your partner is not qualified for the amount they are asking for. They can you down when they start to fail on their credit score report, and I believe you don’t want that.
If you can be on the same page and have the same money mindset with your partner on finances, you are setting yourself up for a successful relationship.
I wish you luck.
It’s been so helpful reading through.
I ve learnt quite alot already. Well done!
Absolutely you told every truth here correctly, thanks for this wonderful tips
Thanks for this guidelines. They are very helpful.
I find these tips very helpful thanks for educating us.
When I initially left a comment I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I get 4 emails with the same comment. Perhaps there is an easy method you can remove me from that service? Thank you!
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