Today I had to pay what we owe for G's ear tube surgery...just the hospital part of it....not the anesthesiologist, not the ENT. Goodbye $917.
And I had a plumber in this week to fix minor little things going on in every bathroom. Goodbye $465.
And tonight I ran to the grocery for some bread, milk, crackers, fruit, baby food, yogurt, and a couple other things. Goodbye $72.
D makes the money, but I am the bill-payer and household accountant. Every other week I get an email reminder that his check has been direct-deposited. I check his paystub online, jot down how many hours of saved vacation he has so I can tell him (because I don't think he ever looks at his paystub). And then I proceed to transfer money into different accounts and pay bills.
We have a 11 different saving accounts:
a regular checking account
an account for FUN (vacations, zoo memberships, etc)
an account for ESCROW/TAXES/HOME REPAIRS(since we don't do escrow included in our mortgage payment)
an account for HOME IMPROVEMENT (which includes anything from new flooring to new curtains) an account for MEDICAL EXPENSES
an HSA (for medical expenses)
an FSA (for medical expenses which was depleted today)
A CHRISTMAS SAVINGS account
and each of the kids has a savings account.
And I would have more because I am just that anal. I would have a CLOTHING account. An EATING OUT account. A GAS TANK account. A GROCERY/HOUSEHOLD account.
Basically I would do with savings account what Dave Ramsey recommends people do with envelopes.
But I don't like having all that cash on me.
And when I have a week of dropping as much money on repairs and health expenses as I have this week, all I can think about is where I can make cuts in the budget.
We need wine, but I didn't get any at the liquor store next to the grocery tonight.
But, damn, I need a glass to help me not fret about money.
3 comments:
This is so interesting to me - Matt does most of our bill paying and money managing. He likes doing it and he's very good at it. I have a general sense of what is going on, but I am happy NOT to take it over. We all have IRAs that some money goes into monthly, and an automatic Christmas savings account, but everything else goes into and comes out of one big pot.
If we lived nearby I would def. bring you some wine! I HATE unexpected medical/household expenses, even if I'm not the one paying the bills.
You mentioned in the post before that you think your husband appreciates your fret-level about finances, and it's the same at our house. That's how there's money to pay for these fretful expenses.
Damn, girl, will you come be my accountant??? I could use some of that anal-ness. :)
Hope you got a good glass of wine in there somewhere! ;)
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