Back again with Two Questions, a series where I answer two questions about my relationship, married life, and other things that come up. Check out last week’s post about driving and dinner.
Who manages your money?
Both of us. We work together to manage our money and actually compliment each other’s strengths/interests. I’m good at and enjoy talking about money on a bigger scale: discussing goals, coming up with different ways we can allocate our money, and setting up our budget. I’m good at putting systems in place. Mike is better at the micro part and managing our money on a more on-going basis. Toward the middle and end of the month, he’ll crunch the numbers and figure out how much money we’ve spent and how much we have left to spend. This is wonderful and something I honestly don’t think about.
Mike actually suggested this question for this post and when I asked him how he would answer he said that I’m the thinker and he’s the executer.
As I type this I realize how this parallels how we do chores. Mike is so much better about keeping up with things that need to be done pretty frequently like dishes, taking out the trash, straightening up, etc. I do chores when there’s a tipping point: the tub is really gross, we have company coming, the laundry is piling over and we have no underwear left, or I can’t stand the dust on my feet.
What are your biggest financial goals?
We have two: pay down student loans and buy a new car. I want to accelerate my student loan payments and pay more than the minimum each month. Mike wants to buy a new car. We’re supportive of each other’s goals and are allocating money accordingly. While we could wait a little while for either of these goals and focus just on one, I think it’s important that we’re both working toward something we want. During our last budget conversation, Mike thought about letting the car thing go so we could accelerate our debt payments while we’re motivated but I didn’t think that was right and/or necessary. I understand where he’s coming from and I appreciate his consideration but I don’t want Mike to put his goals on hold for me. He said that we don’t need a car right now and could even go without one if our car died. But just because we don’t need it doesn’t mean it’s not a goal worth pursuing. Buying a new car means something to Mike and will bring him joy and satisfaction. It represents something bigger–just like paying down my student loans represents something bigger for me. And we were able to find money in our budget for both so we’re moving toward both.
Your turn:
Who manages your money?
What are your biggest financial goals right now?