If you are like me then you are looking for ways to get your spouse on the same page with your money. You probably aren’t getting anywhere with an excel spreadsheet or budgeting software program.
Why is it so hard to get them to see what we see?
Loss of control
One of the reasons my wife didn’t like budgeting (which is weird because she brought up the topic early in our marriage when I wasn’t interested) was because she didn’t feel like she had much control over it. When I started paying the bills and tracking our spending she separated herself from the checkbook â€" and started to give up her sense of control.
No vote
My wife also felt like I was making all the decisions and that she didn’t get to vote. Because I was looking at it all the time I had all the info. Why would her un-informed “feelings†deserve as much attention in our future purchases?
Negative feelings
Most people have negative feelings about budgeting for the following reasons:
- They feel controlled by it
- They are afraid of what they will find, so they don’t pay attention
- They don’t want to face-up to the truth, that their money isn’t doing what they want it to do
Budgets are boring (except for nerds like me)
Well, I can’t argue with this one. Only nerds like me enjoy budgeting. But why do we like them so much? For the exact opposite reasons noted from above:
- We like the knowledge that a budget gives us
- We discover areas that are out-of-whack and make changes to match our values
- We get control of where our money is going instead of wondering where it went
The most important reason: Budgeting affords us options
If you think about it, the main reason for budgeting is to control the income that we have. The first step is to save an emergency fund (I like $1,000) and then eliminate all consumer debt once and for all. Then what? You have many more options for your income that you wouldn’t have otherwise or wouldn’t even realize when you weren’t paying attention:
Getting your spouse on-board
When my wife and I discovered the benefits of living debt-free it was easy to get on a budget. I had been working on a spreadsheet that evolved into an all-in-one Excel file that worked as both a budget and a spending tracker. You can download a copy for free using http://MoneyPlanSOS.com/Budget2013 [1]
The problem with this budget spreadsheet was that I controlled the file. Our budget was on my computer and my wife would have to wait until I brought out my laptop (or email it to her) for her to be able to look at it. No wonder she didn’t feel like she had any control.
Also, because I was doing all the work she felt that I had more information than she did and could make better decisions about our family’s future. No wonder she didn’t feel like her vote counted.
This changes everything
Then we discovered YNAB (You Need A Budget [2] ). Not only is the interface beautiful, but one purchase of the desktop software (for PC or Mac) can be installed on multiple computers in the household. But the best part is CloudSync. By allowing us to store a copy of the data file in the cloud (we use DropBox [3] ) my wife is able to open the YNAB software on her Windows laptop to see where we are and make changes when necessary and I will see those very changes almost instantly on my MacBook. WE ARE WORKING TOGETHER on our budget!
To make things even easier…
YNAB has an Android an iPhone app. My job has never been easier! I still track all the purchases in YNAB but now I don’t even need my laptop. Whenever I spend money outside of the house I simply open up the app and enter the purchase. It syncs to the copy stored in the cloud (our shared folder on DropBox). My wife can do the same, but her preferred method is to leave he receipt for me. When I get home I stop by our “bill drawer†and enter the transactions in a matter of seconds! Whaalaa! File those receipts away Buddy, I’m done for the day. [4]
YNAB app is now FREE
Jesse Mecham and the awesome employees at YNAB have decided to make the Android and iPhone apps FREE [5] ! You still need the desktop software and an online-storage solution to make it all work but I have found the iPhone app makes it even more fun to pay attention to our money.
You can download a 34 day FREE TRIAL from MoneyPlanSOS.com/YNAB [6]
You can also Get the iPhone app for free [7]
Give it a try and then let me know what you think. We have been using it for over a year and our bank account has never been bigger and my wife and I are on the same page with our money.
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Links
- ^ SOS excel Budget (MoneyPlanSOS.com)
- ^ YNAB 34 day FREE trial (www.youneedabudget.com)
- ^ DropBox (db.tt)
- ^ YNAB iPhone App (click.linksynergy.com)
- ^ YNAB iPhone App (click.linksynergy.com)
- ^ YNAB 34 day FREE trial (www.youneedabudget.com)
- ^ Free iPhone app (click.linksynergy.com)
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