Looking for advice on a credit card abuse situation

[disneysteve]

I guess I am being critical of how easily my wife let go of so much money,

Can't blame you for that. I'd be furious if my wife did that.

[Nutria]

Repeal all those pesky laws that allow women to vote or sign for anything without their father or husband's consent.

[disneysteve]

Repeal all those pesky laws that allow women to vote or sign for anything without their father or husband's consent.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Do you think it is ok for one spouse (either one) to go out and spend a large amount without discussing it with their partner?

[Nutria]

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Do you think it is ok for one spouse (either one) to go out and spend a large amount without discussing it with their partner?

He's asking how to avoid *his* situation again. Reverting this country back to 1880 (or modern Saudi Arabian) laws *would* do that.

If he's asking how to drill mathematical sense into her, well...

[snafu]

[QUOTE=JoeP; ...any money left over after expenses and saving appears as free money, and is quickly employed to spend on non-critical things What kind of strategies can we use to avoid situations like this again? .[/QUOTE]

As a family, how do you decide on spending for 'Wants?' What goals have you and DW chosen for money left after expenses and saving categories? You suggest DW is thrifty, tracks prices, watches for sales, uses coupons and seeks savings. At what price point did DW cross the line?

I wondered if it's your practice to hand over spending decisions to DW making her responsible for buying all the household stuff, the items needed/wanted by DKs, your clothes, tickets for events, gifts for family and others etc? Was she surprised by your reaction?

[disneysteve]

He's asking how to avoid *his* situation again.

You might want to read his post again.

What kind of strategies can we use to avoid situations like this again?

He asked what they can do to avoid this happening again. He didn't say "I". He said "we".

[Like2Plan]

What kind of strategies can we use to avoid situations like this again?

Thanks for listening.

Joe,
Sorry for your troubles.
I manage the finances in our household. I agree that goal setting is good. I keep an eye on the CC balance.
Christmas is a big motivator in our household. DH and I LOVE everything about Christmas. We save up all year for Christmas. But, if our spending is too high on the CC on any given month, I have to take the money out of our Christmas savings to cover the balance because the CC must be paid in full each month. It causes both of us pain to do that.

I guess why this works for us is because we both agree that #1 above all else, the CC must be paid in full each month and #2 it is important to us to save for Christmas so we can relax and enjoy the season.

[disneysteve]

if our spending is too high on the CC on any given month, I have to take the money out of our Christmas savings to cover the balance because the CC must be paid in full each month.

This would suggest that you aren't adequately budgeting other areas of spending or else this wouldn't happen. If you have to dip into the Christmas budget to cover the CC bill, that must mean you overspent another budget category. When that happens, do the two of you sit down and review where the overage happened?

[Like2Plan]

This would suggest that you aren't adequately budgeting other areas of spending or else this wouldn't happen. If you have to dip into the Christmas budget to cover the CC bill, that must mean you overspent another budget category. When that happens, do the two of you sit down and review where the overage happened?

Sorry I wasn't clear. This measure is in place to prevent overspending. It is hard medicine for both of us, so it keeps us on track.