my basic system that works!

[chitowndemon]

my wife and i each had our spending weaknesses. hers are things like shoes, purses, clothes....mine are things like videogames, and well, mostly videogames! i could spend $1000/month on them if i had the cash. of course, the problem is i don't have the cash.

so to stop ourselves from spending on our credit cards, we made up a very basic system. every monday each of us has to log in to our credit card online accounts and see what the other person spent. that way, if you slip up you know you'll be called out within a week! yes, it leads to some yelling and fighting, but after 8 months of doing it, it's clearly worked! last month we didnt' spend a dime on credit. you could say after 5 years of marriage we're finally both living within our means, hah!

[ThriftyMan]

That's an awesome system. I can't tell you how often we hear that one of the big reasons couples fail to make progress is that they're not doing a good job of staying coordinated. She'll buy shoes and he'll buy video games. They have enough for one or the other, but not both, so they get set back.

If you work together and talk about where you are, it's so much easier. I like the fact that you're keeping watch on each other.

Do you ever have a contest or penalty to make it fun? The person who slips does dishes for the week? Would love to hear.