I am a saver, my husband is a spender - need tips to bring sanity back

My husband is big spender (he makes good money too) and I am big saver. We are having slightly different view on what, where and how to spend money. I know that this duo-combination exists in most families and want some tips on how to handle things and smooth this out.

Shalini

The situation is opposite here ...my huband saves , i like to spend ......so he gives me a certain amount like 5000/- which i can spend on whatever i fancy and the rest of the salary is distributed b/w household expense and saving....also while buying something which is not that month budget ( like something fancy like a lampshade or a new dress ) i make mental calculation like do i need it this month, can it be postponed to next month...

Budgeting is always v important in a house to run the expenditure smoothly . Very truly money is earned only to be spent but to be saved also . i suggest u to chalk down ur long term goals and short term goals , long term goals cud be the investments u make on fixed assests and which need proper planning and short terms ones r for immediate expenditure and ur montly expenditures
In a family if husband is spending more it is the duty of the wife to show the truth to husband and either way for husband also to stop wife on spending on unnecessary things
Today the inflation is so high and in flow of money is also v high tht we dont knw how to manage our money wisely ,u have fund managers to take care of ur shares mutual funds which we may not have time to sit and anaylse which is fund is doing wot always its gud to save for future in form of pension plans insurances ......... list in never ending
only we need to inculcate the habit of thinking we r in a v gud position we have enough to spend so we shd save . we need not be extravagant and need not be misers also :)

Y do u want to save money????

when one saves 40, it means the person earns 100. V save not to spend the whole 100 but to have something fr future security.

but there is one more alternative to it....

start earning thousands whereby, by default u may have 100 in ur pocket as ur pocket money....

isnt it true? so start earning more than what u expect and this automically means saving.....

I'm beg to differ from siva's views... if a person wants to spend money irrationally then the amt they spend will keep increasing as their income increases. So I don't buy his argument.

However, like radha has mentionned you definitely need to do a serious sit down with long & short term goals. For good quality of retirement life & to enjoy retirement a bit earlier than normal one needs to plan for it from their 30s. If there's only 1 bread winner in the family then the amount that needs to invested for future growth should be greater. Also one needs to consider emergencies and, health issues besides kids, education, & their needs. You have to realize that you can't go over board & become so miserly that you hate your everyday life to have an enjoyable future.

Some people cannot grasp the concept of the amt of money so its easier when you divi-up the total income & deal with only 1 part for extravagant expense. One can set up automated accounts in the bank to send certain sums of money to another saving scheme like money market, mutual funds, CDs/FDs.. etc.

Depending on the investor's age & life scenario a suitable scheme for investing can be chosen. For eg. if you are relatively younger, have many yrs to earn and do not need to withdraw the savings money for anything in the near future then you invest more aggresively. In this method your investment doesn't show results in short term but when you are ready to retire you will have a sizeable return (11-15% increase per yr on an average).

So if you personally think that you cannot convince or give your hubby details about saving then you should both go to good investment firms get an appointment with a fund manager & ask him to explain how you can live comfortably now & after you retire.

Its all in striking a balance... remember that its better late than never & try to save from now.
-L.

Hi

I totally agree with Lavanya.But every person is different and also depends on their upbringing.I think those who cannot help spending and don't wish to feel guilty should spend from the interest what they get ,if they have invested there money somewhere.

Eg: If you keep 1lakh at the post office,the sure returns for now is 600 monthly.This way you will be asured that your actual money is not spent.

Regards,
Priyanks