His & hers pocket money

Here’s the smartest financial decision Wendy and I ever made as a couple:

A weekly allowance.

I know, a weekly allowance is so I Love Lucy.

Here’s how we do it. Every week we each get $40. Which is a lot. But it’s for all non-essentials. Eating out, clothes, music, books, going to the movies, chocolate. We started at $20, then went to $30 and finally landed at $40.

So this way groceries, gas, utilities, rent, insurance and household stuff comes out of our bank account, while everything else comes out of our weekly ‘trash cash’. So even though we’re not on a strict budget, and we don’t use cash envelopes for everything, we still keep our spending down.

And, as a bonus, when we take each other out on a date or pay for something when the other is low on funds, it really means something. Just like it used to when we were dating. I haven’t tried to save up for jewelry or anything yet. One step at a time.