SAHM & money

C&K*s Mommie wrote: If you are not the one to control the bill paying, and your DH is the only one with the income does he give you a stipend of sorts to spend where ever and however you choose?

luvmykids replied: I think if DH did the money we would probably have some kind of arrangement, thankfully he is generous and never makes me feel like it's HIS money, I don't think we would really run into trouble on that subject. BUT I do all the money stuff. I still get a small paycheck from our company and *try* to use that as my spending money, and use DH's for bills/savings.

Jamison'smama replied: We are talking about that today as a matter of fact. We just spend as we please out of the account or on the credit cards but I decided I wanted to start being more accountable to myself so I am coming up with a weekly amount I would like to use for the household. I have my spending money from my job but I need to be more conscious of what I spend for the house, clothes, food etc.

If someone has a weekly amount....what figure have you come up with that works for you? Goodness, that may be too personal but no one has to answer

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: DH handles all our finances, but I'm the one that handles our monthly spending account - for example, I take care of the money we allocate each pay period for groceries and other household stuff, since I'm the one that does the shopping. So all bills and such are paid out of a seperate account by DH so that I won't spend that money. And we only use credit cards for emergencies or big items which we want the United miles from.

C&K*s Mommie replied: I hope this is not too personal to speak for her, but Brianne mentioned something along these lines last night that caused me to think that of this question. She and her DH plan to have a specific dollar amount (or already do) that they allot themselves after paying the bills. But I cannot speak for her, so I will be quiet now.

mckayleesmom replied:
LOL.....we started that because we spend WAAAAY to much money on junk. We have never had a limit on spending before....I just usually am not a big spender, but he is. Don't get me wrong...I don't have to ask permission to buy anything, but we usually consult each other before we purchase anything of a great dollar amount...example 50 dollars...we usually let each other know our plan in case so that we can approve it or if money is going to be tight...we agree to wait for the following payday...Does that make sense?? We mainly check with each other in case we overlooked a bill or something else we needed to pay.

MyLuvBugs replied: Well, I make enough to pay for my one credit card payment. And when DH was working, he'd give me $250-$450 each month for Groceries and stuff. But he took over my car payment for me. Now we are selling some stuff on ebay to help with groceries.

MamaJAM replied: I prefer to have DH pay the bills (I used to do it...but when we fell on harder times it was too depressing).
I don't get a stipened or anything like that...we have a budget and I know what we have to spend where (groceries, household needs, clothing, misc..).

coasterqueen replied: I'm not a SAHM, but my Dh takes care of the finances and we both get so much spending money each week (but we really combine it).

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
We always spent as we pleased. Until I finally got ahold of myself and decided I needed to start paying more attention. I've been doing really well.

Scotty pays the bills and that makes it pretty easy. I tell him when I'm leaving for the grocery store and he'll say "Buy groceries for the week, but don't spend over $75" That way I know whether to buy steaks or hot dogs. Or when I go to Target he'll say "Make a list and only buy what you NEED." It really helps keep me accountable. We still spend way too much on groceries and stuff, but we are doing so much better.

I don't have a set spending limit and I need one. I would also like a credit card to buy groceries and stuff we normally buy to get skymiles (like Cary mentioned) Scotty doesn't want a credit card though. We just have our check cards.

Cece00 replied: I control the $$.

Dh gets cash for his lunches during the wk & if he really wants to buy something that isnt too much $$, he just goes ahead & buys it, otherwise he checks with me.

It works great for us. He doesnt spend too much $$ (and I look @ finances often, so if he is spending too much, I tell him to cut it out ) and I dont have to get money from him, etc. Plus he sucks with bills, etc.

JoyToTheWorld replied: My Dh pay all the bills, we do not use credit cards unless we need to for an emergency, we use our bank cards or cash for all other purchases. I went back to work part time after my son started Kindergarten 2 years ago and all the money I make there I get to keep for spending. I have to limit my trips to Walmart and Target and stuff because I go in there for one 5.00 thing and come out with 150.00 worth of stuff I dont even need. We just paid off both cars though and they are both still in really good condition so we are socking away a ton in savings until one of us needs a new car again.