Unless you are single, there really isn’t any way that you can even attempt to start and maintain a budget without your significant other on board. Somebody is always spending money. So the only way to lock down a budget, is to get down and dirty with your spouse, in a budget meeting sense (what were you thinking?).
It never seems to work out perfectly. You decide that starting a budget is the way to go for your family. Hell, maybe it’s beyond that, maybe it’s a necessity. Maybe things are getting so out of control that it’s do or die time, budget style.
But there’s always that little bit of a stumbling block, and that is usually getting your significant other on board at the same time. It doesn’t matter the gender of you and your spouse, the song remains the same. Though, admittedly, I believe that guys are a tougher sell when it comes time to convince them that you need a budget. We’re not too bright sometimes.
In my case, it’s not about trying to convince my wife that a budget was necessary, it is more about trying to convince my wife to stick to it. We do have a real cool new beach umbrella though.
As we are progressing through our first month on a budget, it has become apparent that my wife and I need to have a weekly budget meeting. Nothing formal mind you, just a kind of come to Jesus moment about our spending for the previous week. This way, hopefully, we won’t have to go through the complete month before we both realize that our spending needs a bit more control. However, I will say that those new LED lights under our rear patio cover look bitchin’.
I think, given the frequency that we spend money, the meeting needs to be once a week, every week. I’m going to have one at the end of this coming week, but it’s been just over two weeks since the month began and our budget started. This is a lot to grasp when it comes time to really look at the spending and where we can do better.
I don’t want you to think that it’s just my wife that has the spending issues, I have children too don’t forget. In all seriousness though, I also have a lot to learn when it comes to spending money. Admittedly, since starting the budget, I am way more conscientious about what I’m spending, but I still have a long way to go. Issa ok though, because I needed to change the gearing on my dirtbike anyway and that new black sprocket is going to look cool.
I think that once I have the budget meetings, things will change for the second half of the month. I wish I had a meeting after the first week, but whatevs. I’ll have one this weekend. It’s going to be great.
No it’s not.
What it will be is eye opening. However, that is not such a bad thing. I’m going to include my teenage kids in the meeting as well. Not at first, because I want to be able to speak to my wife openly, but after the initial part of the meeting. I think that this will be important because we need the kids to be on-board too. I’m getting tired of turning lights off after they have left the room.
So the big meeting will be to get a family on-board by showing them where we have been spending our money and how much. I don’t expect to be Mr. Popular by the end of it but if it gets everyone to spend just a bit less, it will be well worth it. I’ll just have to refrain from ordering a pizza for our little gathering.
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