The wife is going on a shopping trip with my Mom and my SIL. She asked me what her budget would be, and knowing that if I gave her a liberal budget, that she would most definitely spend every bit of it, and if I gave her a conservative budget, I would like like the ******* husband, so I just simply told her "I expect you to be responsible and know what we can afford right now." She will be gone for 3 days. I'm kinda questioning this move right now. What would you more seasoned married guys have done? Help a newb out.
I think you played it right. Cause now if she over spends, it's all her fault and a learning experience for her. Rather than you ride the fence on a price and then it could be both of your faults for not agreeing on a price.
You did the right thing by talking about it. Especially without making it seem like just one of you controls the money. Hopefully both of your views of what your budget is will match. Good luck.
Yes she would ask if she wore the pants. Hey alot of times women want to prove they wear the pants by asking you questions you should know how to respond to. Almost like a test that she still wears the pants. Since you (claim ) that you wear the pants AND she asked, you should set the limit where you think it should be. At he minimum you should of given her a range. Just my 2 cents. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.
Honestly, that is how my wife and I have always treated our financial life and it has worked just fine. She is probably a little more frugal than me and it has never been a problem. Time will tell for you! Best of luck.
Seeing as I have been married for 25 years I will say that you made the right call. That is how we do it in our house and it works great. IMHO, if you had set a limit, it would have come back to bite you in those pants.
With that said, men and women both can get a buzz by shopping and BUYING things they want or think they need "but not me". It can become a real problem so if you find she buys a lot of stuff you really don't need, you may want to address that. I've had a friends wife ruin their credit because she was handling the books and didn't have the heart to tell him they were broke now because of her spending habits. Good women, just couldn't handle money.
I manage all finances. She honestly has no idea how much money we have or don't have. That could be a good thing, or a very bad thing. I guess I'll find out in a few days.
Well done. Definately what I would have done. Worst Case scenerio is she overspends and you make sure she returns most of it. 4-5 years ago wife & SIL went on a day trip shopping like that, and my wife came home with about $800 of stuff(as I saw on the CC). I made sure all but about $200 of it was returned. She learned her lesson & she's never come even close to that again.
Same here Hook... I wish you luck... I'm pretty sure the bank would call asking if my card had been stolen...
