...to make changes in my finances.
I've been looking for ways to save on expenses the last few months, downright worried about our spending habits. It seems like every time we get out of debt, we plunge right back in again. And it's not even like we save and make payments and sacrifice...we refinance the house. Can you say unhealthy?
One of the problems I have is that I don't pay for the utility or mortgage expenses. I pay for most of the cost-of-living expenses like food, gas, my car, household maintenance, property taxes (which in New Hampshire are pretty high because we don't have income or sales tax). My hubby handles the house, auto insurance and the utilities.
We both have unhealthy spending habits which is why we have separate accounts. I don't want to be in trouble because of a mistake he's made overspending and vice versa.
I've been listening to Trent, David, Kacie and Mrs. Micah for a little while now and I think I have a game plan of how to approach this effectively...
The Conversation with my hubby. Getting on the same page.
Set Goals. With Deadlines. What do we want to save for? What do we need to pay for now? (Like past purchases. Ouch.)
Monitor and celebrate success. (Without spending!)
All in all, I'm excited about it. I know I have unhealthy spending habits and I've started becoming more than just aware of it, I've been developing new habits for avoiding those unhealthy situations. Now it's time to step it up a notch and set goals and work as a team.
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5 comments:
Right on! You're making that all-important first step and I'm really happy for you.
It might not be easy at first, but it will be worth it.
Go go go!
I honestly think the hardest part will be working as a team, getting hubby on board since he pays all the major expenses. But I can see he's been hedging toward frugality lately too, so it might not be so hard to convince him after all!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You go girl!!!!!!!
We're working on our finances too... it's going better, but not great, ya know? The best thing is that my hubby decided to make a little spreadsheet on the computer to get things organized... that not only made it easier to see what bills are due, but made James feel more involved in the process.
I'm the computer geek of this team. it does make it so much clearer when you can physically see everything broken down!
Jana, the other thing that has helped is that we picked up a quicken program for home finances. It was $40 but really helps in breaking down the types of expenses and where exactly all that money is dissapearing to! So far I've done all the computer work for both of our bank accounts, but I think I'm going to get my hubby to do his own even though he doesn't "preffer" to do much with the computer. It just makes sense for him to be responsible for tracking his own expenses. Then, I think, it will be easier to move forward as a team.
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