Well, I finally got to the point where I feel we have to try something different with our finances. I had always wanted to set up a a weekly allowance system, but I couldn't figure out how to make it work. I just went through the last 7 weeks of receipts and categorized everything according to the type of purchase. The point was to see how much we had been spending on "wants" over that time. YIKES! I'm guilty too, but nowhere near as bad as DH. This will certainly be a challenge, but it looks like we could cut back on spending quite a bit. The only way to make this work is for each of us to have the same amount of fun money per week. Use it, bank it, whatever. So... starting immediately DH and I will each get $20 per week to spend on whatever we want. For me, this will mean I have $15 per week to play with. I currently have $5 per week direct deposited to another bank account and I think I will claim that money as part of my fun money. (Hey why not? It's earning a nice interest rate! FUN!) I think this will work as I don't normally spend too much on "wants". It's DH who is going to have to majorly cut back. I think this will be good for him though.

This is a start towards us cutting expenses. I want to track my progress through my blog and eventually I want to see this work towards a reduction of debt. Wont know until I try!