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Should You and Your Spouse Have Separate Accounts?

Written on February 10, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Money, Relationships

games Disagreements about how to handle the family finances is often sited as a leading cause of divorce. There seems to be an increasing number who are separating their finances so they don’t separate! This would have been unheard of just a generation or two ago.

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Opposites attract

In many relationships, there is a spender and a saver. Or sometimes you have two spenders who spend differently – one who frequently buys little incidentals that may add up to a lot of money over the course of the year and another one who can’t resist the major purchases.

Is it wrong?

While some people are finding separate accounts the way to go, others think that it’s just wrong. They believe that it’s a bad sign if a couple doesn’t co-mingle their funds.

Does that stem from a time when you had one wage-earner in the home?
Is it a control issue?
Perhaps it has to do with religious beliefs?
Or maybe it’s a trust issue?

We don’t know the answer, but we do know that many couples are making this work.

Why it works

We think keeping separate finances works for a number of reasons. Among them:

The saver isn’t frustrated by money being spent on things they think is unwise.

The spender doesn’t have to defer gratification so long that they just can’t stand it anymore.

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How it works

We’ve seen a number of ways to do this. Here are two examples:

The Allocators. These couples begin by allocating who pays for what. It’s a negotiation process. If you choose this system, determine your respective spending priorities. Then, whenever possible, let each spouse pay for those things they feel are most important. Divvy up the basics however you see fit.

Once you’ve figured out who will pay for what, each spouse then gets to spend, save or invest however they want.

The Allowancers. Okay, we struggled with a name for this group. That’s the best we could do!

Allowancers may maintain a joint account to pay mutual bills like the mortgage or the utility bills. Then they divvy up the excess as allowances.

But don’t forget to take out the trash or you may lose your allowance!

With their allowance, each spouse can save or spend however they want. One spouse may even save to spend … on that next major purchase.

A final thought

You may have heard us say this before, but our thought on this issue is this:

If it works for you and your family, it works.

It doesn’t matter what other people think or even say. What does matter is that you find a system that helps you keep your finances in order. After all, they are a key component to living out your bigg dreams!

How do you and your partner handle your finances?

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Help – My Spouse Spends Too Much!

(Image in today's post by hisks)

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Success in a Can

Written on February 4, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Inspiration, Success

can_of_success Today we want to talk about a miracle solution that we just discovered. You can use this magical elixir for any problem you may have.

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If we were to create an infomercial for this wonderful product, we’d want Billy Mays, the spokesperson of all spokespersons, to be our pitchman. We can hear him now …

Billy Mays here with a product that I’m excited to tell you about. Success in a Can. If
you have problems staring you in the face; it will make them disappear without a trace.

For a demonstration, he could offer real-life example after real-life example.

So are you interested in knowing where you can buy this incredible product?

Well, it’s not sold in stores as the saying goes. You won’t find it online either. You see, it’s very exclusive. We can hear you now … you really want this product, don’t you? But there’s something you should know …

No one can get it for you. No one can give it to you. You have to get it yourself. But people who have used this product say that it is priceless.

So, we can hear you asking again … only more impatiently now … where can you find Success in a Can and how much it will cost?

Here’s the secret – you have to mix this magical solution yourself. The good news is that you already have all the ingredients.

Ingredient #1 – Self-awareness

Do you believe in yourself? We mean really truly believe deep down. Listen carefully to your talk – both your conversations with others and those internal chats you have with yourself.

How often “can” you? How many times “can’t” you?

Can’t is a limiting word. If you think you can’t, you’re right. And that’s just wrong!

Now we don’t think you should eliminate the word “can’t”, but you should be aware of it. You should limit its use to situations that don’t limit you. Because it reinforces what you truly believe.

Ingredient #2 – Self-assessment

Think about your strengths and your weaknesses. You may think that’s odd – why would you think about your weaknesses if you’re trying to limit the use of the word “can’t”?

That’s a good question. Let’s see if we can come up with a good answer …

It’s important to be realistic. Because Success in a Can doesn’t mean playing to your weaknesses. It means knowing what you’re best at. It also means working with other people doing what they’re best at because you know they can! There, how did we do?

Ingredient #3 – Focus

Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t do. Whenever you hear yourself saying that you “can’t” do something, quickly start thinking about what you “can” do about the situation. By focusing your thoughts on what you can do, you’ll feel more energy to work on the issue at hand.

Ingredient #4 – Reinforcement

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself you can do it. When you face a difficult challenge, tell yourself you can find a way. When you see an opportunity, remind yourself that you can make it happen.

If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody will. Success in a Can does come with a price … you have to change the way you think. But if you do, you’ll pop the top for bigg success.

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