budgeting - how?

[MummyThreeStreams]

cherrygal:

Imp75:

Sorry to gatecrash the thread but I have a relevant question. Is it necessary to contribute to the joint household spending acc based on percentage of income or is it ok to split the contribution equally. My hubby who earns less than me has been urging for the % method but I dont see why the equal contribution doesn't work. He's not living from paycheck to paycheck so therefore whichever method is not causing him any hardship. It merely means less savings than me but which is fair cos he earns less.

My mom said never try to split things 50-50 between a couple. It becomes a bad habit. So even when his salary is much higher than yours next time, he will still expect to split expenses by half. It should be a give and take situation where you pay for some, he pays for some.

My mom believes that men should either take up the bulk of the household expenses or hand over his salary to the wife for her to manage.

In our household, we contribute to the joint account based on % of salary. My hubby earns significantly more than me so he will contribute more, but that also means he has more left over in absolute terms. We thought this was fair because it would be a heavy burden to expect me to contribute the same amount as he does. I would not have any money left over! (And he thinks I should try to build up my savings in case omething happens to him.) And if we reduced it to just how much was manageable or me, then it would not be sufficient to cover our houshold expenses.

But I think there is no one right way...each family is unique. One's contributions may not necessarily be in the form of money either. You just have to find the right formula that everyone can live with. Money hasn't been an issue for us and we're not hung up about money. So example, if we eat out and he pays cash, he will not 'charge' it to the household expenses. This helps to reduce the focus on what's yours, what's mine, what's ours...We're all on the same team.

[24hr-mum]

my hubby n i nvr discuss who pay wat. we just continue existing practices. when i was wkg, if i had been paying for eg tel bill, i continue paying, he continue pub bill, etc. hsehold instatlment was split 40：60


when i quit, i was living on my savings
i nvr ask him for allowance cos he has been paying all hsehold expenses, childcare, his mum allowance n medical

until few yrs later when my saving low, then i start ask to hv access to his atm card/acc, partly cos he kept forgetting to pay credit card bill n always late charge. so i took over all payment and he nvr questions me how i use his atm card cos he trusts me.

so i believe a couple shd not be too calculative and ideally shd share - afterall we share our bodies, soul n of cos $. n the men shd bear the bulk becos traditionally the men takes care of earning, the wife takes care of kids n household. if both are wkg, the household who takes care? if both not wkg, whre does the provision come from? so each has his or her own roles. but of cos, in reality, if eg the man is a gambler, the woman shd realy keep her own savings becos in divorce cases, usu the woman hv to take care of kids n stimes the women earn less

[MummyThreeStreams]

24hr-mum:

so i believe a couple shd not be too calculative and ideally shd share - afterall we share our bodies, soul n of cos $.

agree! makes life together a lot easier!

[Imp75]

MummyThreeStreams:

24hr-mum:

so i believe a couple shd not be too calculative and ideally shd share - afterall we share our bodies, soul n of cos $.

agree! makes life together a lot easier!

Would you change your mind if say, you have 10x of your hubby's savings?

[daddy2007]

EASON MAGPIES:

I am quite surprised daddy 2007 consider $15 for a meal luxury. Unless I am mistaken, for 2 people at a foodcourt will set u back around that amount...very close.

yap.. $15 is very close margin. a meal for 2 pax in food court will cost about $12 - $14. We do have meal at restaurant once a week to pamper ourselves

[Imp75]

wow Daddy2007


You are a very disciplined spender, good job!

[CookiesMonster]

MMM:

Yes I do monthly budgetting using spreadsheet.

Hi, MMM, can you please share with me your spreadsheet? Thank you very much.

[EASON MAGPIES]

daddy2007:

EASON MAGPIES:

I am quite surprised daddy 2007 consider $15 for a meal luxury. Unless I am mistaken, for 2 people at a foodcourt will set u back around that amount...very close.

yap.. $15 is very close margin. a meal for 2 pax in food court will cost about $12 - $14. We do have meal at restaurant once a week to pamper ourselves

Then food basic means hawker centre... :lol:

Since my DD born, we are thinking once a week restaurant probably have to stopped.

[daddy2007]

EASON MAGPIES:

Then food basic means hawker centre... :lol:

Since my DD born, we are thinking once a week restaurant probably have to stopped.

Yes. But with a young child, I find is easier to eat in foodcourt or restuarant. The place is not so hot & the table/chairs are not so dirty. So feel at ease feeding the child or let her touch the table top/chair

We still try to continue with weekly restaurant meal, but the venue will be those budget type...hahahaha

[MMM]

EASON MAGPIES:

Then food basic means hawker centre... :lol:

Since my DD born, we are thinking once a week restaurant probably have to stopped.

Actually it depends on one's mindset. We've reached that stage in our career life that financially we are ok and we are earning more than average sporean family by government definition. But we still find going to restaurant an indulgence. We are happy with going to the market/ food court. Eg. last week, we did restaurant almost the entire week and we feel conscious about it.