Jack and I just finished filing our 2008 taxes (we like to wait until there are mere seconds left on our extension each year). Sigh. It's the third time we've filed jointly, and I've gotta say, there appears to be zero benefit (we have our tax guy run them both ways just to be sure). I guess I'd been naively hoping that the IRS would give us some sort of merit badge (in the form of a deduction) for making it legal. No such luck. In fact, social scientists are now saying that the economic benefits of getting married have been on a downward slope since 1969. This number is due mostly to the increase in the earning potential of women -- which is far from a bad thing. So the question becomes: How much savings can a newly married couple actually look forward to? I think it depends on where you live. In a high-cost-of-living area, where housing gobbles up the bulk of the monthly budget, there's no question that couples can live on far less than singles (one less bedroom can amount to thousands less a month). But that savings is all about living together -- not necessarily marrying.
Have you found that you've saved money since getting married? How? Share the wealth!
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