Family Dollars and Sense

I'm excited. Usually Darling Hubby (DH) and I discuss just about every aspect of family and married life without much difficulty, and we've always been mostly on the same page when it comes to our finances. Lately we've been working on a detailed budget, something I've dabbled with but never really did anything with in the past.

Being the "nerd" of our union by Dave Ramsey's definition (and it turns out we're both kinda nerdy with respect to money, only I'm the one who likes the check book to balance to the penny while he just sort of guesstimates and would qualify as the "free spirit"), I started working on a spreadsheet and have come up with a pretty sophisticated budget sheet for our income, outgo, and ongoing expenses. *Gives herself a pat on the back* This masterpiece, now in its third edition, has all kinds of formulae pre-programmed into play, so I just need to key in a few numbers, et voila!

So I'm excited because I printed out a copy of next month's budget and left it accidentally-on-purpose under his travel mug. Evidently he looked it over and with some detail because later that day, he brought it up and actually had some ideas to contribute! WOO HOO!! He's finally on board!

Like I said, we've been pretty much on the same page at least where the larger purchases are concerned and what our overall financial goals were, but while I've given up the use of my beloved credit cards for almost a year now, DH has been using his as a matter of "convenience." There have been instances where I divulged just how much his bill was in a particular month and was met with raised eyebrows and a fleeting look of panic in his eyes (just for a second).

Now...he uses cash. *grin*

It's really true what people say about the pain you feel when you're handing over your cash money as opposed to swiping a credit card. OK, so I use debit, but I'm still the one balancing the checkbook and feel the pain every time I deduct something. It's really helping me control my spending.

This Christmas we are buying gifts for the kids in the family and making gifts for everyone else, with the exception of gift cards for dinner for the grandparents. And with a bit of luck and a lot of care and hard work, we're going to be laughing all the way to the bank in just a few short years!

Our next goal is to start working with Zeke to instill in him a good understanding of what money is, how it's earned, and what it's worth. We're probably going to start with "commissions" with his household chores once he turns 4 (which, incidentally, is next week). We both agree it's of great importance that we start him off on the right foot when it comes to money so that he doesn't make some poor financial choices in his adult years.

It's so good when husbands and wives can agree on things like that. *smile*

Parents out there reading this: Any thoughts or comments about how you've raised your kids to handle money? What works? What doesn't?