Money Matters Week 39

[penguin129]

We're coming up on the last week of the month... How are things looking? Tell us what you want.

[brachysira]

Well, I feel like our whole family needs new clothes. Kids are both going to school, so can't really get away with PJs half the time, and my go-to shirts from last year are really worn and I'm kind of sick of them anyway. I need snow boots and so does DS, and he probably needs rain boots. It's exhausting and I have no idea how much to spend. I feel like we need to retile our bathroom because some tiles are cracked in the shower and I'm worried it's going to get moldy behind, but DH is like, meh, if that would make you happy. I just wish we could talk more about cash but he just doesn't like to do it.

[cam]

brachysira, he is an adult. Finances are a very important part of being adult. Some couples share responsibility for managing finances, while other couples have one as the primary. Either way is perfectly fine if it works for the couple, but if one is primary, there are still certain topics that need to involve both partners. I don't like to clean the toilet, but I certainly do it anyway because it is important. Just because your H doesn't like to talk about finances doesn't mean he gets to avoid all financial discussions. It is your marriage, but, personally, I would push him, on the big topics anyway. Even if he opts not to contribute to the conversation, he should listen to the details and agree to the course of action (if he indeed agrees of course). For your tile example, I would say, 'Here is the estimate to retile, here is the estimate to replace a few tiles, and here is the estimate to do a temporary fix of sealing up the cracks. Here is where we stand financially. I am leaning towards the ___ option because ___ (or I am between options ___ and ___ because ___). What do you think?'

[namastebiotches]

Things are looking okay as far as keeping the grocery bill down & not indulging on fast food/junk we can live without.
ILs paid for everything we did this weekend so that most definitely helped since last time they came, we paid for a ton of stuff.
Still trucking on with getting the tax bill paid off & allocating $ for medical bills that should be here any day now.

[younglove316]

Things were looking decent, until the furnace started making a horrible sound last night. We've had to shut the entire system off because it's also leaking so now we may have to replace the AC unit and our furnace. I hate being an adult sometimes.

[sanibel21]

We are way over. Between prepping for baby, fall/winter clothes for DD, oil, family outings I wanted to get in before LO comes, and retail therapy, it just keeps adding up. I am getting stressed about Christmas. I won't be working the 5 hours a week I have been for 12 weeks after LO is born, so we won't have that money. DH got a bit of raise which is awesome but probably in some way just makes up for what I won't be bringing in anymore. We will probably end up getting a 0% interest rate credit card and putting Christmas gifts on it and paying it on over a few months.

[younglove316]

Sept 28, 2016 15:05:29 GMT -5 sanibel21 said:

We are way over. Between prepping for baby, fall/winter clothes for DD, oil, family outings I wanted to get in before LO comes, and retail therapy, it just keeps adding up. I am getting stressed about Christmas. I won't be working the 5 hours a week I have been for 12 weeks after LO is born, so we won't have that money. DH got a bit of raise which is awesome but probably in some way just makes up for what I won't be bringing in anymore. We will probably end up getting a 0% interest rate credit card and putting Christmas gifts on it and paying it on over a few months.

As for Christmas stuff, I've been checking out the clearance sections whenever I go to the store and just picking up stuff over time. Maybe you could start now so it's just so much at once? Also if you have Five Below near you, that's a great place to shop too

[penguin129]

Sorry some of you are having troubles. I am worried about Christmas too. I mean now there are two kids to buy for. Thankfully I only have two things in mind for DD2 and it should be about $35 if I get them from Consignment. I'm not sure what I'll do for DD1. I know for sure no big toys. She doesn't really need any new books either.

[mrsmuq]

We've had unexpected expenses totaling up to $2,000 this month (truck repair, cesspool service, dryer repair, pipe repair), and now my car needs several hundred dollars worth of work. Bleh. Our vehicles are older (9 and 11yo), and we haven't had a car payment in 4 years, so I really can't complain, but we're not good at building the "emergency" stuff into our budget. It doesn't hurt our bottom line, but it does mean we'll contribute nothing into savings this month.