Budget Talk

Starting June 1st Jeff and I have challenged ourselves to 30 days of no spending. We have decided to drastically cut back. We have agreed to only spend money on essentials like food, gas, and obviously our bills. Our plan was not to eat out. I actually completely forgot we had started the challenge until my friend Tiffany asked how our no spending was going. About two weeks ago I handed over the money to my husband. That sounds wrong. Let me explain. Every household generally has one spouse that 'controls' the money. That was me. I paid the bills, did the budget, decided where our money would go. I would ask Jeff every week what do you want? Is there anything we need to budget for? I always received, "I don't think so" as a response. Then, I would handle things only days later Jeff would ask, "where did the money go?" Anyhow, the way we handle our finances or lack of handling was no longer working for us. Jeff used to handle the money a long time ago but he was horrible at it. Jeff was so great at not spending one single dime that he also never paid the bills. He would always forget to log on and pay everything. The money would be in the account. So, we have officially decided to join forces and handle this as a team. Doesn't that sound so obvious now? Seven and a half years of marriage and we are finally joining forces. So, I will continue handling the bills. I pay everything, organize everything, and handle the checkbook. Every penny after the bills Jeff manages. We saved more money this past week then we did the whole month of May. I am pumped. However, this new budget is challenging. For starters, Jeff only gives me $25/weekly for fuel. Ouch! We are NOT going anywhere. But I am a stay-at-home mom and I can work around this inconvenience. However, this week I already went over. The kids have VBS everyday this week. It is a 20 minute drive one way. Jeff gave me $15 additionally. It doesn't sound like much but, I told him not to give me more. I want to stick to the budget! We are nearly a week into our 30 days and so far we have been very frugal, but we have ate out. We had a coupon for a free one topping large pizza from Papa Johns. We used that coupon and ordered bread sticks on Saturday. Our total was $4.35. This morning while the boys were in VBS I took Juliet to the park. She found $2 on the playground. So, I took her to McDonalds for a drink and a cookie. Jeff gave me $100 for groceries. And keeping with my old ways I used $15 to eat out without his knowledge. But I told him later. Me and the kids ate out at Subway last week. But that is it. I plan on continuing to blog about this experience this month. I think this is going to be a great month!