budget committee meeting

**geckoace** · 02-03-2007, 01:31 PM

hi all,
I wanted to thank you all for the advice to on how to get DH on board last month, i took it to heart and approched it differently and now we are one the same page. what it finally took was seeing the cost of preschool for my 3 year old DS. He freaked and realized that we should be able to afford it and he couldn't figure out why we couldn't. so i sat down and crunched the numbers and figured out an action plan, presented it to him in a businesslike manner and he said "oh! well that we can handle that" WOO HOO

what a load off. we are tryign to make some smart decisions for our tax refund and I have declared tonite a budget committee meeting so we can discuss. we also decided that the period of Lent will be a debit card free time (with the exception of buying gas although i will use my paypal debit card where i load a certain amount of money via the web) where will both give up our biggest vice, swiping that card! and learn to live on a cash "allowance" while we reprogram ourselves.

Anyway ...
we are loosely doing the dave ramsey and i wondered if you all have budget committee meetings how often and how productive are they?

**Darlene** · 02-03-2007, 01:50 PM

We don't have meetings but talk about things as they come up and just whenever we feel like it.
Just wanted to jump in and congratulate you on figuring how to get your sweetie on board, smart lady. Together you can do anything!

**AheeK** · 02-03-2007, 02:29 PM

Good job on getting dh on board! I love your idea about giving up the debit card for Lent. I should do that...it would definitely lower my expenditures.

**i.m.cheap** · 02-03-2007, 02:30 PM

I am just curious, how much is preschool for your three year old?

**kaykwilts** · 02-03-2007, 06:45 PM

Congratulations for getting your husband on board.

**geckoace** · 02-03-2007, 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by i.m.cheap

I am just curious, how much is preschool for your three year old?

i could start a thread about the nightmare that is our preschool decision. but we had a few options. all in very different schools im going to give you more info than you probably wanted LOL
montessori (5 mornings a week til 12ish) 450/month
a traditional preschool 9-3 2days a week 292/ month 3days only in the afternoon 198/month
and the school we ultimately chose which is 425 all day 2 days of the week.

see there is a huge difference. what ultimately made up our decision was
1-our sons reaction to being there (he LOVED it)
2-the educational component is excellent (my son has a fall birthday so he will be a year behind but he is already ahead so we needed a program that would challenge him plus he really likes to learn and i want to captalize on that while we can)
3- the non educational component is strong they go on field trips and have a lot of play time
4- the hours are such that i can work parttime and he can continue to go in the summer

whew! im rambling to answer the question LOl 425/month

**nwmissourigal** · 02-03-2007, 11:19 PM

That's great new that you got your hubby on board. My dh and I don't have meetings of sorts, but we do talk about our finances and he is more frugal than I am...so we both know what it takes to run the household and agree on where the money goes. Congrats on your achievement...Blessings..Kathy

**Telephus44** · 02-04-2007, 07:45 PM

We don't have a set schedule, but we sit down and talk things over quarterly, and figure out networth out once a year.

**Amanda W** · 02-04-2007, 08:01 PM

My DH and I have a short (maybe 10 minute) budget discussion each month. I'm in charge of the finances, so I basically just show him my spreadsheets, how our budget looks for the month, and see if he can think of any expenses that I haven't.

Once a quarter, we get together and go over things in greater detail and see if we are on track with our goals. Of course, we also discuss things as they come up as well.

**Jill B.** · 02-05-2007, 08:36 PM

We were sitting down monthly but now that the budget is just tweaked every month, we sit down every few months. We have irregular income so when there is a period of no income or very little coming in, we talk.

I asked him to sit and talk to me about our goals this year, at the beginning of Jan. He looked at me like I grew a second head. We both knew it was to save towards a potential move, so what was there to talk about? I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page! LOL!