Husbands and Wives: Men and Women: Nerds and Free Spirits:

“Your Free-Spirit spouse will not come to any more meetings if all you do is tell him or her what to do. The first draft of the budget is your chance to have your ‘say.’ After that, sit back and listen. Accept the fact that your mate has valid input. Remember, you are doing this to coax your spouse into better money management and financial unity and believe me, your concessions are a small price to pay for unity. The budget committee needs to have rules. First, keep the meeting brief. It’s a budget committee meeting, not a Camp David accord. Nerds like me to love to look at all possible scenarios and projections. However, when the objective is agreement with your Free-Spirit spouse, you have about a 17-minute window of opportunity before he or she tunes out. “

Aside form the labels there offer a few key empathy building points for agreement.