An important first step in establishing your first married household (even if you've lived together before marrying) is to make clear joint agreements concerning finances, household management, time together versus time spent apart, and a host of other items that come now that you've legally and emotionally thrown your lot in together. You can review these areas covered in other chapters — for example, power sharing in Chapter 3, and money in Chapters 6 and 7 — putting special attention on how to make mutually satisfactory choices, how to stick to them and still maintain flexibility as conditions in your lives change and evolve.

One common mistake newlyweds make is taking on too much debt in the form of a home mortgage or high rent before they're ready, or without planning ahead to a point in the near future when one income might go away. This brings immediate money pressures and makes for an even more difficult first year of marriage. If it's at all possible, stay well within your financial means and allow yourselves the time and lack of pressure that comes with keeping your overhead low.