Comments on: Having family budgeting troubles?

By: Matt Jabs

Matt Jabs — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:33:34 +0000

It looks as though a conditional stimuli worked very well. I think that I will try that…just surprise her with a portion of the debt repayment money every so often as a reward!

Thank you two very much.

DebtFREEk!

By: bob

bob — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:24:05 +0000

Linda,
you are welcome – I love you honey

DebtFreek,
for example, Linda loves buying clothes, but after we got married she didn’t get to go shopping nearly as much as she previously did… so, even when we were working hard paying a lot towards our debt each month, I would occasionally (and I emphasize “occasionally”) take $200 from that money to go to paying down debts and allow us to use it as fun money. While I didn’t necessarily need it as motivation to keep me going, I saw that it was a huge blessing and a big motivator for Linda. While it may not be 100% efficient, it did keep her interested as we ran a “very tight ship” over the last 3+ years, which I think it just as important to the overall success…

By: Linda

Linda — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:52:29 +0000

Thanks for the compliment Bob!

I have to say that the secret to our success is that our budget actually works. In situations where we need more money in one area, Bob – the saver that he is – will make adjustments as needed. This takes lots of pressure off me – the spender – and makes me feel secure in the budget and helps me not feel like I’ve fallen off the wagon which would make me spend lots of money in all areas because it’s no use anyway.

DON’T JUDGE ME!

: )

By: Debt Free Adventure

Debt Free Adventure — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:25:23 +0000

You bring up some very relevant issues here.

Currently I’m trying to get my wife to “become more involved in the budget”. She is doing well with not spending, but does not seem to be interested in planning the budget with me, in fact the whole thing seems to annoy her.

She is a very “right-brained” and is not a huge math fan (I’m a big math geek), so this may be tough.

What were some of the ways you rewarded your wife to encourage her to become more involved?

Thanks,

DebtFREEk!