You shouldn't invest the money if you are looking to use it within five years. Too much risk.

Money may not buy love, but fighting about it will bankrupt your relationship.

You need to know everything. You both need to be comfortable with sharing everything. If you can't you are NOT ready to get married.

To get started, track your expenses for a couple of months. Then you should be able to start filling in your estimated debits and deposits for the next few months. Once you get it rolling for a while, you will be able to see your budget for the upcoming months reflected in the estimated totals. You can even notice year-to-year trends, like bonuses, tax bills, etc. that come up routinely and it will help you budget accordingly.

Light has a way of keeping people honest.

Sometimes your gut is right. And sometimes not.

I write for anybody struggling to manage their money.