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Re-Introduction!

October 28th, 2007 at 06:29 pm

It has been a VERY long time since I have posted a blog here. I think I am finally ready to give this another shot. I've been lurking around for the past couple of months, reading and commenting on other blogs. I've just had a mental block when it comes to writing my own blogs - no clue why!

Well, I guess I'll just jump back in and start with a couple of things that have been going on lately. DH and I both got decent raises a couple of months ago, so we decided to give an allowance a second shot. We had tried that once before and it failed horribly. An allowance was just very necessary at this point in our lives! (I'll touch on that more later)

His raise was 3.5% and mine was 4% PLUS a salary adjustment spread out over the next 4 quarters. This gave me approximately 3% more, for a total of 7% increase Sept. 1st. I'll get that same dollar amount that the ~3% represented again on 12/01, 03/01, and 06/01. I was ecstatic about how much this could go towards paying down debt!!!

Then.... DH annouced that it's his lifelong dream to become a race car driver. Go ahead and laugh, I'm not kidding! Yes, 31 years old and crying about wanting to be a race car driver when we were supposed to be talking about starting a family and buying a house. And what about me and what I want? I want to fund a Roth IRA!

So, this is where the allowance comes in. It's not huge - only $20 a week - but he can spend it on anything he wants to! I have the same allowance and the same rules apply. Well, you can imagine I have over $100 in my account and he has just a few dollars as far as I know. We set up a separate account that HE is reponsible for and I don't meddle in at all. I never expected the effects this would have on ME though. If he wants to spend his money on beer or sports cards - I don't care!!! I used to get stressed out that he was "wasting" his money on this stuff, but it's not my problem anymore. Do you know how much of a weight was taken off of me with this? Smile

My spending has decreased as well. Now I look at something I would have bought without thinking twice and I say "Wait a minute - I don't really want to spend my money on that!" I have a habit of always doing for others and not doing things for ME, but I need to change that a bit. I'll admit, my first $20 got tucked in my mom's purse while she wasn't looking. It's a slow process changing the way I think, but I'm making progress!

I guess that's enough for now - not bad just jumping back in here!

Posted in Finances | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Re-Introduction!”

  1. Ima saver Says:
    October 28th, 2007 at 06:53 pm 1193597626
    1193597626

    We have always used the allowance plan and it works very well for us.

  2. scfr Says:
    October 28th, 2007 at 09:48 pm 1193608109
    1193608109

    Please be grateful that your husband shared his dream with you. It would have been a real shame if you had a house and kids, and he was skulking around acting resentful but you had no idea why! So what if the odds of him becoming a race car driver are slim to none? At least he won't die regretting that he never got the chance to try, or blaming you and the kids.

    My husband & I have taken turns supporting each others dreams, but we do it with a plan that won't put the family finances in jeopardy.

  3. dmontngrey Says:
    October 28th, 2007 at 10:27 pm 1193610422
    1193610422

    Don't get me wrong - I would LOVE for him to be able to chase his dream! But HOW? If there were any way at all for him to pursue this dream, I'd be all for it. My husband is the type of person who has had many "dreams" he has wanted to chase. This is the biggest one so far and also the one that would require the most financial commitment. His dream chasing has caused a lot of our credit card debt and he has already been warned we will NOT be going into one more penny of debt for him to do this. I have sat back and supported every "want want want" of his for 8 years and this dream is just the straw that broke the camel's back for me. From a financial standpoint, I don't see how this could ever be possible. From every other standpoint, he's 31 and his racing experience consists of watching racing on tv and going to a live race once. Seriously - he hasn't even made an attempt to get off his butt and get involved in that lifestyle. Go volunteer at a track or something and learn how things work.

    I swear I'd go completely insane if I didn't have a couple sensible people in my life...

  4. baselle Says:
    October 29th, 2007 at 05:34 am 1193636071
    1193636071

    So you can tell us...how well does he drive in real life?

    Ah yes, persuing the unattainable. It takes a load off. He can sulk that the world is against him, and he can always claim that "if only..." he would have done it and he's never lost a race. Big Grin For fun, I'd offer to drive him to the track!

    Oh yes, congratulations on your raise(s). It's easier to save it than make it!

  5. dmontngrey Says:
    October 29th, 2007 at 10:38 am 1193654319
    1193654319

    Ha ha ha... you would ask how he drives in real life, wouldn't you? Well, according to my husband, nobody drives better than him and it seems that all other drivers on the road are just there to get in his way! Yup, if someone pisses him off, next thing you know he is driving 90 mph and weaving through 3 lanes of traffic on the highway. Thankfully, this has calmed down a bit lately when I'm with him. I don't know what happens on his commute to and from work and he has been warned that I don't care to hear the stories. 95/495/local roads are NOT race tracks! A few weeks ago we were switching from one highway to another and the ramp was closed. We had to make a slight detour through a clover leaf and loop a few times to head south. I think he was slightly aggravated about it and he hit those ramps too fast in my car that has a shot suspension. I questioned him about it later and got the standard response that he felt he was in control and could handle the ramps at those speeds. Uh, that's nice... but I don't feel my car can handle it!

  6. reflectionite Says:
    October 30th, 2007 at 02:00 am 1193709616
    1193709616

    i heard about the allowance method in a book by anita bell called "how to pay off your mortgage in five years". it seems like a good idea and i hope to implement something like that when my bf and i buy a hosue.

  7. reflectionite Says:
    October 30th, 2007 at 02:04 am 1193709898
    1193709898

    oh and also, my boyfriends best friends dad was a race car driver. he died and left behind two kids under 5 and a mortgage, and a life insurance policy that gave all the money to his mother and not his wife.

  8. scfr Says:
    October 30th, 2007 at 02:47 am 1193712421
    1193712421

    Ahh ... Thank you for clearing that up about the "dream" ... I'd call the racecar business a passing fancy, not a dream. Sorry, my misunderstanding.

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