Comments on: Save Money With a “Fun Allowance”

By: No Spend Month Philosophies « Mama Knows Best

No Spend Month Philosophies « Mama Knows Best — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:43:37 +0000

[...] in a newer posting by Rachel, she shared Carly’s story from back in October about how Carly decided for her [...]

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:34:11 +0000

I’ve been afraid to try another no-spend month. The first (and last) time I tried it, my German shepherd got sick. It cost me $1,500 and I had to put her down. Sometimes it feels like that was Karma whacking me upside the head for being so presumptuous. Who am I to imagine that my already fairly ascetic lifestyle should be cut back further, and what am I doing pinching every penny when I have a decent salary and others, even in America, are going hungry?

Maybe taking a volunteer job, which would fill up the extra hours so you wouldn’t have time to spend and also make you use your time to help others, would be the solution.

Funny about Money’s last blog post..A New Plan: Retirement

By: smallnotebook

smallnotebook — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:49:40 +0000

Lance, I completely agree. Shopping tends to create needs that we didn’t have before we saw it.

By: Lance

Lance — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:56:18 +0000

Money is one of those things that can really derail a marriage, or a relationship between two people. Luckily, my wife and I typically have a similar strategy for spending (and saving) – and this has worked well to keep any money concerns from causing chaos in our house usually.

What works well for me – is to not even go (to the store). Especially if I don’t “need” something. It’s when we go and are just browsing sometimes – that we end up buying stuff we just don’t need – on a whim – because at the moment – we “have” to have it.

Lance’s last blog post..Fear: Does It Hold You Back?

By: smallnotebook

smallnotebook — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:17:43 +0000

Welcome Angie! I think this is a good point, and Sivana and others have touched on it too. If the money is there, then it’s ok to enjoy spending some of it. It’s that balance between grace and discipline. You plan a certain amount for it, and then you can freely enjoy it!

By: Angie

Angie — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:49:20 +0000

I love your blog and have been reading for a few weeks now, although this is my first comment. We began using a zero-based budget in July and stopped using our credit cards altogether (debit and cash only). What I like about budgeting "fun" money is the complete lack of guilt. I used to spend on fund things and then feel guilty for days afterward (and then dread the credit card statement arrival). Now, we know what we can spend and we can enjoy our purchases (small, though they may be) without guilt. Thanks again for your blog and all the great links! Angie's last blog post..Soup Time

By: Shannon

Shannon — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:31:57 +0000

Thank you for linking to my blog. In our home I have a monthly account which I can do whatever I want with. Generally I buy things for our home, but sometimes I splurge and buy coffee .

Shannon’s last blog post..No Spend Months: Q&A

By: CC

CC — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:05:00 +0000

We do this too! We each get $40/month of personal spending money. We can use it freely to buy clothes, go out to lunch with friends, or get a coffee. But when it’s done, it’s done. It has stopped our endless bickering about him buying comics or me buying coffee with “our” money. Instead we just sit back and say “whatever”!

CC’s last blog post..Be it resolved…

By: Sivana

Sivana — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:05:34 +0000

My husband and I do the same thing, though our reasons are quite different. Both of us are very frugal, to the point that we would feel tremendous guilt just buying ourselves a $1 coffee if it wasn’t planned/budgeted in advance! We both had so many things we wanted, but we are just accustomed to self-denial (a habit we picked up while he was putting me through university on a minimum wage salary).

Once I graduated and entered the workforce, we had more than enough money even after putting a lot into savings to spend on things we wanted, but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to do it. So we decided that we would each get $50 per month to spend on anything we wanted, guilt free. Because the $50 is already budgeted as an expense, I don’t have to worry about my purchases being unplanned. Now I can go to the bookstore and splurge as much as I like. As for my husband, well, our household has quite a few more pets since we started having an allowance, lol.

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:59:19 +0000

Like many of the other commenters, my husband and I have had an “allowance” from day one. It’s quite a bit bigger than many of you here though! We use it for anything that’s just for ourselves. So that includes our clothes, gym membership, haircuts, event tickets, lunches out, times out with friends – anything that isn’t towards our marriage, household, or bills. We call these our “red shoe accounts,” because sometimes you just need those red shoes that your husband thinks are a waste of money. He doesn’t get most of my purchases (nor do I get his), but we have an agreed upon amount in our own accounts.

Also, we do both empty our change into a jar every few days and then take it to a coinstar machine where we exchange it for a giftcard. No rolling of all those coins, and no fees for depositing it! A fun gift from his last trip: he put it on Starbucks and I’ve been using that giftcard for 3 months now! Usually it goes on an amazon card and we buy some things that have been on our list for a while. A fun treat!

Lastly, we budget for a datenight every two weeks, including babysitting and an inexpensive activity. It’s an amazing part of our marriage, and I highly recommend it!