This is for everyday simple household and personal budget management:
As outlined in my previous post on money, once you have transparently accounted to each other all your income and agreed how you will spend it, under the leadership of your husband, it is up to each married couple to find practical ways of how to manage their family budget.
What has worked for my husband and I over the last couple of years is quite simple and perhaps it can help someone:
- We sit and discuss the budget together;
- We declare all our income to each other;
- We then AGREE how we will spend it, (incidentally “spending it” includes paying an amount into some form or investment or savings scheme, it’s not all consumption expenditure; expenses are also comprehensive and include all expenditure, both household (such as groceries or toiletries) and personal (such as a clothes, hair blow waves or make-up for me and the Sunday Newspaper for my husband).
- Needs are budgeted for first, and wants (such as a holiday) are then considered based on affordability.
- This becomes the family budget which is then managed, in our case, monthly;
- Also in the budget is a small personal allowance for the month which we don’t have to account to each other for how we spend every cent, for example if we want to buy gifts for each other or books, have a coffee on the run, parking money and so forth;
- Any unusual expenses over and above the budget that may crop up during the month is separately agreed beforehand;
- In case of emergencies we can spend but account to each other afterwards. Buying a new “outfit” is not classified as an emergency expenditure. This could typically be for situations like an unexpected trip to the emergency room for a child that needs stitches after a fall at school.
- We review the budget regularly to ensure it remains relevant.
- We pray over our budget.
Although we both knew how to budget very well, given our professions, when we got married, doing it together as husband and wife in a godly marriage didn’t come naturally to us, we had to be taught how and it has benefited us tremendously.
Perhaps there are couples in your world whose financial management you admire, go and ask if they are willing to share, you may find some other practical ways that work for you and your husband.
For more complex financial management and planning in the short and long term, it may be necessary or wise to consult financial experts together.
Proverbs 15:22 NIV
[22] Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
@helperwife