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Do you take an allowance ?

ForTheKids

ForTheKids

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I am really curious as to how people manage their money. My husband has a well paid job ( at least i think so ) and i work 10 hrs at the school. His cheque goes into the bank along with mine and i manage all the bills. We both take the same amount of money each week, it isn't a lot but we get to spend it how ever we want no questions asked. I go to the bank and we get cash. He never hits the atm for money, but he has a debit card/ credit card on him for emergencies.. . We have cc debt from our trips to Ireland. My mum was sick and this year she unfortunatly passed away. I was lucky that i got to see her and i don't regret spending the money but our cc debt is high. So i suggested thay we cut our allowance to pay down the card quicker, which he agreed to. He rarely complains, but i know he is very frustrated that money is so tight and he works so hard. I know there are people worse off and better off than us and i am not complaining, i am just curious as to what other people do. Sorry this is so long.
 
My DH also has a well paid job, but still we have decided to embrace poverty. :lol:

He pays out a lot in child support (18 more months! Yehaw!) and he is still paying off considerable divorce related debt. He *never* spends $$ on himself, and I rarely do. I will spend $$ on the kids and with two in college & my DD14, our kid related expenses are substantial. I don't get an allowance so much as I have a set amount of $$ each month (from my kids' child support) and we've decided that it is easier for me to pay for all of the food/household stuff, entertainment, kids school/sports fees, presents, etc. (rather than allocate x amount towards "my kids" housing/living expenses.) Whatever is left I can spend however I want, which usually equates to spending it on my kids.
 
I am sorry to hear about your mom...:huggy:. Me personally, I do not take an allowance that I can spend how I wish....not that I can't, it is just hard form me to splurge on myself. Allocate what you feel comfortable giving up...every little extra helps to pay down debt...but don't totally give up treating yourselves....or let your hubby keep his allowance since he works so hard...it will work out..... and I am glad that you got to see your mom...that is what is important here...no regrets.
 
I'm a money tyrant... My DH wants nothing to do with it at all. He also doesn't have an interest in saving money except for fear of my wrath. I think I've created some issues... I have suggested an allowance but he doesn't like that. Luckily he is pretty good about not making unnecessary purchases.
 
DH's check gets auto deposited into our checking account. I use a debit card for everything (I do all the shopping). He carries a CC for gas, smokes, etc. I handle all the bills so I pay his CC online (the entire balance) monthly which is usually around $700. I pretty much buy what and when I want, but I'm also cheap so I don't much. DH is the spender. Seems like 2-3 times a month there's something (usually a tool) that we "need". :surrender:

When we bought this house last Dec. we had quite a bit of money in the bank. But our mortgage is $500 more a month than our old one was. DH keeps wondering where the $ went. :rolleyes: I swear he has $ amnesia. He doesn't remember the car repairs, new carpet, new lawn mower, snow blower, new tools, and various other purchases. :surrender:

I think I'm going to start keeping a $ journal and write down any large purchases so he can see "where the money went". :fart:
 
I have $ amnesia, too. :hides: Our mortgage is $600 more here than at my old house & I forget that. A lot. :giggles: I also keep forgetting the van payment. :dunce:
 
:lol: The last time I had an allowance I think I was 13....Extra $ to spend, there is none right now...I'm not complaining, I'm just tellin' ya how it is here. I pretty much pay what bills I can and try to keep my head above water....IF I had extra $ I might consider an allowance but we've never been at that point here...now when I was single and young I ALWAYS had extra $ then and I spent it on whatever I pleased! :-) Sorry about your Mom, I think it was good that you went, whether you could afford it or not...you would be upset w/yourself if you hadn't. Good luck!
 
kewpon addict said:
:lol: The last time I had an allowance I think I was 13....Extra $ to spend, there is none right now...I'm not complaining, I'm just tellin' ya how it is here. I pretty much pay what bills I can and try to keep my head above water....IF I had extra $ I might consider an allowance but we've never been at that point here...now when I was single and young I ALWAYS had extra $ then and I spent it on whatever I pleased! :-) Sorry about your Mom, I think it was good that you went, whether you could afford it or not...you would be upset w/yourself if you hadn't. Good luck!
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:shesaid:

Neither dh nor I have ever given ourselves an allowance, and we've been married 29 years. Dh has .00 in his wallet. He has a CC for emergencies and gas. He has never had an emergency and he always asks before he gets gas. I manage all the bills, so, while it seems like I have the money, I do not spend money on myself. I do have an incredible weakness when it comes to the kids though. I am always astounded when I see posts about allowances for dh's for stuff, even stuff like haircuts. Dh usually cuts his own hair. We also use the clippers to cut our boys' hair and I use scissors to trim dd's hair. We just don't have it, so we do our best not to spend it. We have no CC debt, and no vehicle payments. Our only debt is our mortgage. I am desperately trying to keep it that way. My mom gave me $50 for my birthday in September. It is still sitting in an envelope on my desk. I know if I take it out I will just use it for groceries or bills. I want to keep forgetting about it til it happens that just the right thing comes along that I can actually buy something with it that matters.
 
We don''t really budget or manage our money and buy what we need (and sometimes what we want). Most of our frivolous spending comes from eating out or going out with friends. Also, I spend money on activities for DS like going to the bounce house, open gym, and various activities around town.
 
I would and have given up my money so my hubby could have more. Just didn't matter as much to me as it did to him. This may or may not work in your situation but tome, it really wasn't that important and as it was to him.
 
DH's wages is direct deposited and I pay all the bills online. He has a credit card for emergency and a debit card in the drawer that he can take some cash out if needed. If he uses the money to pay for lunches or coffee, I would just close one eye to it, but he would rather spend it on toys and then whines about he never have money with him. The morning before he lost his job last Friday, he took out $100 from the bank to buy toys!!
 
We do have "blow money" we get to spend on whatever we want. I usually spend mine to go out and have a lunch or something while working or to buy something I see I want that isnt in our budget already. We have a VERY STRICT budget and every penny has a purpose, so when there is something that I want that is small that is a splurge (like the Mr. Sticky I got from Carson's last night) it comes from my blow money. This is alo the money we save up for gifts for each other or My DH saved some of his to go to the Rams game this weekend. Our budget rarely ever changes, so this is how we account for those things outside of that.
 
We have weekly conservative totals that we shoot for in different categories like gas, groceries entertainment. We have a sort of understanding about who's in charge of each budget--for instance, I do groceries, dh does gas. If you spend out of the other's budget you let them know. This isn't a big deal--it generally just amounts to dh telling me he stopped at the grocery store and spent 6 bucks, etc. If one of the buckets is going to go over, we discuss--again not a big deal but there is a conversation about what necessitated the overage and if we are borrowing the money from another bucket. It's simple, straight forward and keeps us from overspending without at least thinking about it and coming to an agreement to do so...
 
tnovak said:
I would and have given up my money so my hubby could have more. Just didn't matter as much to me as it did to him. This may or may not work in your situation but tome, it really wasn't that important and as it was to him.
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My husbands blow money is much more than mine. I have slowly pulled him down though, but he has 50% more than me a month. With how well he works within out budget, it is worth it to me. He is great and will call lots of times before even making purchases that are obviously necessary.
 
We "feel" we make more than enough since we have no mortgage and all our vehicles are paid for. DH and I have proven that we handle money responsibly. We don't go on shopping sprees just because there's a surplus. I'm in charge of paying bills from our joint account and I make sure all of them are paid on schedule. We don't carry a balance on CCs and I do automatic pay when the due date comes for each one so I won't be charged penalties/interests. We prefer using CCs over cash because we earn a lot of cash back/travel perks while we don't earn interest from our bank. So far, we've handled our finances quite well and plan to continue what we're doing.
 
DH doesn't work right now because he's in school. I know he spends small amounts and I don't generally razz him about it, but he definitely spends more than I do on "extras." I get lunch out once a month with my coworkers as part of our staff meeting. If anyone is getting extras, it's the kids.

All our money is pooled and has been since we were married.
 
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