The First Money Meeting: the money Sheet, the 20-page Workbook and the conversation cards

Instant download

The First Money Meeting

A Money Sheet, a 20-page Workbook and 24 conversation cards for one structured money meeting.

One structured meeting where the two of you turn “we should talk about money” into an actual decision.

$29

One-time payment.

  • See where you stand, planned around your leanest month
  • Private pages first, then a minute-by-minute 30-minute agenda
  • Five ways to split shared money, side by side
  • One written agreement, both names on it, with a date to check back in
  • Google Sheet + 20-page Workbook
  • 24 printable cards
  • Completed example included
What’s included

The Money Sheet, the 20-page fillable Workbook with scripts and private pages, 24 printable Money Conversation Cards, and a completed example (Maya & Jordan) to compare against your own. See everything that comes with it.

Delivery and refunds

Instant download after checkout. All sales are final. Read the Refund Policy.

A structured first money meeting

Decide how the money works. Together, on paper.

For gifts, travel, hosting costs, family money asks, and the conversations couples usually leave until they’re already under pressure.

  1. THE TALK

    “We should probably talk about money.”

    The conversation most couples keep putting off.

  2. THE MEETING

    One 30-minute meeting

    Private pages first, then a minute-by-minute agenda.

  3. THE RESULT

    One written agreement

    Both names on it, and a date to check back in.

One structured meeting where the two of you turn “we should talk about money” into an actual decision — written down, both names on it, a date to check back in.

Sound familiar?

Money decisions arrive before you’re ready for them

  • The gift budget nobody set

    Two families, two gift lists, and no number the two of you actually agreed on.

  • The family ask

    Someone asks to borrow money, and you each would have answered differently.

  • The surprise purchase

    One of you buys something the other didn’t see coming.

  • The wedding bill that’s still open

    It’s quietly shaping every other money decision you make.

Nobody hands either of you a script for that conversation — you’re just supposed to know.

They’re better made together, on paper, before anyone else weighs in.

What’s inside

The First Money Meeting: Decide Your Marriage Money System

  1. Know where you stand

    Money Sheet

    Both incomes in one place, planned around your leanest month, with one status line that tells you where you stand and why.

  2. Have the conversation

    20-page Workbook + scripts

    Two private pages first, then the meeting laid out minute by minute. Firm and softer wording for the harder lines.

    Workbook page 2: the 30-minute meeting laid out minute by minute
    THE MEETING, MINUTE BY MINUTE — so neither of you is improvising.

  3. Settle the things that get put off

    Money Sheet tabs

    Whose debt is whose, a cushion target you set together, one rule for when family asks for money, and a check for big purchases.

  4. See it done once

    Completed example

    Maya and Jordan’s filled-in copy (a constructed example) to compare against your own.

    The Our Agreement tab of the example money Sheet, print view
    YOUR MONEY PLAN, WRITTEN DOWN — both names, your numbers, your rules, and a date to revisit it.

What it isn’t: a budgeting app, a tracker, or financial, tax or legal advice. It never asks for an account number.

One line tells you where you stand — and why.

Monthly Meetings log in the example money Sheet, showing ⚠ Tight on Aug 15 and ✓ Okay on Sep 12
FROM ⚠ TIGHT TO ✓ OKAY — Maya and Jordan’s check-in log, Aug 15 to Sep 12.

(Maya and Jordan are a constructed example, used to illustrate the tool — not real customers or a testimonial.)

  • Not a score or a grade: a plain word (⚠ Short, ⚠ Tight, ✓ Okay) with the actual reason underneath it.
  • Underneath the status, the one thing to look at next — not a list of everything at once.
  • You set the thresholds: what counts as “tight” is a number the two of you agree on, not one we pick for you.

In Maya and Jordan’s example, gift money moved their emergency fund from $4,000 to $7,100 — enough to move their status from ⚠ Tight to ✓ Okay between one check-in and the next.

Five ways to split shared money, side by side — recalculated the moment you change a number.

  • Equal amounts, Proportional to income, By category, Pool everything + equal allowances, or Hybrid: joint for shared, rest separate — whichever matches how the two of you actually think about money.
  • In this example, Maya and Jordan’s Hybrid option puts 65% of each paycheck into shared costs and keeps the rest separate — recalculated instantly the moment either of their numbers changes.
  • If your incomes aren’t even, the plan is built on the leaner month, with anything extra going toward a buffer instead of getting spent as if every month looked like the best one.
  • See exactly what each of you has left over under any option you’re considering — before you commit to it.

No option is marked “recommended” or “fair” — the five exist because different couples land on different answers, and the point is seeing all five side by side before you pick.

The First Money Meeting

One purchase. One meeting, fully set up.

Two parts that work together. The Money Sheet does the math with you. The Workbook gives you the words, and 24 conversation cards keep the meeting moving.

The Our Agreement tab of the example money Sheet, print view
Google Sheet

The Money Sheet

Know where you stand, and write down what you decided.

  • Start Here, eight working tabs and Our Agreement
  • Five ways to split shared money, recalculated as you change a number
  • A monthly log, so next month’s check-in doesn’t start from zero

Needs only a free Google account.

Workbook page 2: the 30-minute meeting laid out minute by minute
Fillable PDF · 20 pages

The Workbook and cards

Say it once, say it together, and say it your way.

  • Private pages first, one per partner, then the meeting minute by minute
  • Scripts for the harder lines, each with a firm and a softer version
  • 24 printable Money Conversation Cards, and a completed example to compare against

Free advice hands over ground rules and good intentions. This does the math with you and gives you the words.

$29

One-time payment, USD. No subscription.

Visa · Mastercard · Amex · PayPal

No refunds once it’s delivered and working; a duplicate charge is refunded, and delivery problems get fixed first. Refund Policy

Delivered as a Google Sheet copy link plus PDFs, yours to keep. You need a free Google account; nothing to install.

What happens next

  1. Check out securely.
  2. Get your copy link and PDFs right away.
  3. Each of you fills in your private page, then hold your first 30-minute meeting.

Questions before you buy

We’re fine — why do we need this?

A ✓ Okay is what “fine” actually looks like once it’s on paper, and most couples never get the chance to check, because nothing forces the conversation until a bill or a family ask does it for them. The meeting is a decision tool, not a rescue — most useful exactly when things are fine, before a family ask or a big purchase forces the topic instead. No debt? The debt tools sit unused; the split options, the cushion target and the family-ask rule still apply.

This feels like a hard conversation.

It’s built so neither of you has to improvise it: private pages first, so you each know what you think before you’re saying it out loud; a timed meeting, so it doesn’t run forever; a listener’s page; and scripts for the harder lines, each with a firm version and a softer one. If things ever get past what a Sheet and a conversation can handle, Workbook page 20 points you to nonprofit credit counselling, in both the US and Canada.

We already use a budgeting app.

This isn’t a tracker, and it doesn’t replace one. An app can show you where the money went. It won’t tell you whose debt gets paid first, what happens the next time a family member asks for money, or what the two of you agreed the cushion should be — those are decisions, not data, and that’s what this settles.

What if my partner won’t sit down for this?

Start with your own page — the private pages are built so each of you fills in your own first, before either of you needs to say anything out loud.

Does this work if our incomes are uneven, or if we’re in Canada?

Yes — the numbers are built to plan around whichever month is leanest, not an average, and Canadian labels are covered on the Sheet’s Help tab and in the Workbook.

Which Google account or app do I need?

Any free Google account works — you’ll use it to make your own copy of the Sheet. No other app or download required.

Is this financial, tax or legal advice?

No. It’s a decision tool — a Sheet, a Workbook and a set of scripts to help the two of you make decisions together. It doesn’t ask for account numbers, and nothing on it is tax, legal or financial advice.

Can I get a refund?

Once your copy link has been delivered and it works, we don’t offer refunds — a copied Sheet can’t be taken back once it’s in your own account. If you’re charged twice by mistake, that duplicate charge is refunded. And if the files fail to deliver, or won’t open, we fix it first, and refund only if we can’t. Full terms are on the Refund Policy page.

Decide it the same way you’d decide anything else that matters to both of you — on paper, before anyone else weighs in.

Free advice hands over ground rules and good intentions, but not a single calculation. This does the math with you and gives you the words.

$29

One-time payment, USD. No subscription.

Visa · Mastercard · Amex · PayPal

No refunds once it’s delivered and working; a duplicate charge is refunded, and delivery problems get fixed first. Refund Policy

Delivered as a Google Sheet copy link plus PDFs, yours to keep.

Not financial, tax or legal advice — a decision tool for the two of you.