When we (f64/m61) were younger with 4 children, we figured how to pay all the bills and the rest was our allowance to spend as we wanted/needed.
Now it's food, gas, and we each have an allowance. We have drafts setup for all monthly payments, some by the week (various medical bills...) and a set amount going into a savings account called "holiday" and another savings account called "home repairs and insurance". We made sure every thing was budgeted and said, ok, you get this much allowance and I get this much.
If anything pops up that we WANT, it comes out of "holiday", anything we NEED, it comes out the "home repairs and insurance" acct, and some may come from the checking account, depending on its balance.
The "holiday" account has all birthdays, Christmas and a little bit for EVERY holiday of the year.
Here's our rough numbers:
Weekly
$1000 pay
$100 food
$40 gas
$80 for her
$40 for me
$100 holiday account ($100 per 15 birthdays & 15 Christmas presents, and about 10 other holidays)
$100 repairs account
$50 Dr bills
Monthly
$600 utilities (elec/water/sewer/sanitation, internet..., cellphone...
We usually let part of our allowances build up till we can afford something more expensive.
The BIGGEST thing, is that when we paid off our home and car, my wife needed to retire for medical reasons. Our car is 10yo and dependable, we plan on keeping it till the wheels fall off, but we keep it maintained.
We never did have a large savings account, but we've done this for 4 years now and it is growing nicely. I said all that just to say this: I wish we had started it sooner (the weekly contributions to savings accounts, even if it was super small, we would have set the habit and adjusted as needed through the years).
My job takes care of my retirement and medical insurance.
Now we are considering when to go for her for social security. I'll probably work till I'm 70, I enjoy my job.
Submitted June 05, 2021 at 01:00AM by Scadaman29325 https://ift.tt/3ceUPZ5
