For pretty much our entire marriage I have been in charge of the finances, and honestly I’m okay with that. You see, I’m a control freak about some things. AND money is one of them.
The first half of our marriage I was the bread winner. From day one of dating, my husband knew I did NOT need his money and could take care of myself! Hmph!
So in a sense, I was running things….. in the finance department.
Well, overtime things kind of turned and I found myself kind of needing “his” money. But now I like to think of it as our money. Yet, I still feel the need to be in control of every. last. cent.
The man works many, many hours and sometimes he has to buy lunch and/or dinner. AND for some reason my crazy I have to put myself in check and get a grip about this. I like to blame it on my Gemini twin.
I set a budget and try to live by it, BUT sometimes I sneak determine that I need some things outside the budget, like nail polish, lattes, visit to the spa, new blouse, etc. etc. BUT dare the man spend an extra $1 to super size a meal. {enters the Gemini twin}
I keep balance of the checkbooks and frankly no one could figure out my system if they tried, which is quite scary. You see sometimes the balance is negative, but isn’t really negative. That is when it’s not truly negative.
So needless to say, hubs aka the man, needs to asks questions about the account balance from time to time. And that is when I go into control mode. I say things like “why do you need the checkbook”, “why do you need the login password”, or “I’ll take care of it, how much do you need?”. And when all falls apart, I just say “I’m doing the best I can trying to make sure all these bills are paid and we have a place to live”. Yes, that is my sympathy line.
I know I need to let go over some of the control, especially since at this very moment I don’t even contribute income to the accounts. BUT it’s hard!
How do you and your significant other handle the finances? Does anyone else feel they need to control every cent like me? Please say you do.
