Stay @ home mom money question

[On Track]

I am a stay at home mom and have been for two years now. We had to make several changes financially but the hardest change was trying to figure out how to handle all of the free time. I had worked 2 jobs and then all of a sudden I had to be at home all day. It was tough at first trying to keep myself occupied but after 2 yrs i have adjusted and love it.

[Ima saver]

Some one mentioned that I should have a credit card, I do. We have two, one I use and get state farm dollars to help pay my house insurance. My husband uses am. express and gets a check back once a year, currently over $500 coming.
I do not have a debit and never will. I budget for each catagory by putting cash into each budget envelope. The first envelope is for savings! I put away money on a weekly basis for things like property tax, car and house insurance, tags, etc. [Automated by GetSmile]

One income family, two parents one toddler. DH brings home the bacon, and I distribute it. We felt that because I'm home, I might have more time to deal with the shopping and the budget. We have a bill schedule so we know what bills come out of the pay check week by week, and the bills are broken down to never be more than the paycheck. DH and I have one joint checking, and one joint savings account. We never mess with either one without letting each other know. DH has a credit card we pay off every month, if it's used. We try to keep one check cashed and have money on hand so that we have some leeway to be spontaneous, though we rarely are. DH keeps about $10 in his wallet.

I guess the most important thing for us is communication. Sometimes DH wants something and I feel bad telling him I don't think it's a good idea right now and why. If he really wants it, we talk about where we can make a cut elsewhere in the budget so he can get what he wants. Since we share a money saving goal, we do not suffer resenting the other person for not letting us have what we want.

We currently have a short term savings goal that we are working towards. We are feeling the pinch right now, but have agreed that when we have reached our goal we will relax some of the restrictions and get some luxury items we have put off. When I say luxury items, I mean a $50 DVD set for him, and a bookshelf for me.

Good luck!

[tgavin71]

We have a joint account as well. I have total control over the finances in our house.
If he needs money while he is away working he will call me (for free using our mobile phone deal) and lets me know how much he took out so that I can write it down.
I have set up automatic payments for our cc's and mangaged fund.