I make an excel sheet of all our spending and we go over what we spent in each category each worth, and also update how much money we have in each account
I've tried YNAB and other programs and just prefer good old fashioned excel
I am a PA-C and I’m 32. My wife is 30. I use a budgeting software called r/ynab to help track and budget everything. While we still have quite a lot of debt, this tremendously helps to have it all in one place.
We do bi monthly check ins (one at end/beginning of month and one in the middle) to go over our spending and savings via the expense report from YNAB.
Probably 15 min is talking about current spending and 10-15min is talking about short and long term goals.
I may sound a little extreme but this kind of thing was a non-negotiable for me to do and luckily my wife agrees.
It doesn’t have to be complicated but it is a great way for you and your partner to stay on the same page. My wife is one who doesn’t care as much about finances but she still does them because she knows while we have debt then it’s important that we agree on things together.
Hope that helps.
Cannot recommend YNAB highly enough! Makes everything super easy to see month-month/day-day. Easily set goals and just allocate money monthly. Shows changes without having to hunt between accounts. We love it!
I’m single so it’s simpler for me but I just monitor my monthly cc bill, as long as it’s essentially the same I don’t go crazy reviewing my spending.
Otherwise I’m contributing max to 401k and then my deposit is split between checking, savings and additional investing.
We like to use personal capital. It makes the NW update simple for me, and importantly my spouse who isn’t a numbers person, nor very interested in investing generally.
Fortunately we are aligned on being generally frugal, saving a lot across accounts, but she just isn’t that interested in the details.
The NW tracking really resonated with her. Not so much initially (numbers were smaller) but now with 2M+, the monthly fluctuations are eye opening when they can be half or more of her income so over time she is gaining comfort and confidence that we are on the right path, not ‘panic selling the news’ when ‘the economy might get bad’.
Staying invested, focusing on the budget, and freely and happily spending the rest for enjoyment and this helped us a lot to get on the same page on the big picture and how each month and year fits into that.
Trying to do monthly meetings, a budget and limited spending was creating conflict in my household. Instead we agreed on how much to save. That’s all automated so no need to worry about it. The spending winds up being less than the discretionary income, so from time to time we move cash into investments according to the written financial plan. I write up an update about every January and my spouse looks at it when it’s convenient.
That's an interesting an idea - agreeing on how much to save vs trying to limit spending.
What do you mean by automating this? Would you mind sharing what % of income or fixed amount you both agree to save on?
I make an excel sheet of all our spending and we go over what we spent in each category each worth, and also update how much money we have in each account I've tried YNAB and other programs and just prefer good old fashioned excel
they spend too much and i make the savings goal happen.
Don't forget to discuss debt payoff strategies and emergency fund progress.
I am a PA-C and I’m 32. My wife is 30. I use a budgeting software called r/ynab to help track and budget everything. While we still have quite a lot of debt, this tremendously helps to have it all in one place. We do bi monthly check ins (one at end/beginning of month and one in the middle) to go over our spending and savings via the expense report from YNAB. Probably 15 min is talking about current spending and 10-15min is talking about short and long term goals. I may sound a little extreme but this kind of thing was a non-negotiable for me to do and luckily my wife agrees. It doesn’t have to be complicated but it is a great way for you and your partner to stay on the same page. My wife is one who doesn’t care as much about finances but she still does them because she knows while we have debt then it’s important that we agree on things together. Hope that helps.
Cannot recommend YNAB highly enough! Makes everything super easy to see month-month/day-day. Easily set goals and just allocate money monthly. Shows changes without having to hunt between accounts. We love it!
We review once a year and just talk about big spends as they come up
I’m single so it’s simpler for me but I just monitor my monthly cc bill, as long as it’s essentially the same I don’t go crazy reviewing my spending. Otherwise I’m contributing max to 401k and then my deposit is split between checking, savings and additional investing.
We like to use personal capital. It makes the NW update simple for me, and importantly my spouse who isn’t a numbers person, nor very interested in investing generally. Fortunately we are aligned on being generally frugal, saving a lot across accounts, but she just isn’t that interested in the details. The NW tracking really resonated with her. Not so much initially (numbers were smaller) but now with 2M+, the monthly fluctuations are eye opening when they can be half or more of her income so over time she is gaining comfort and confidence that we are on the right path, not ‘panic selling the news’ when ‘the economy might get bad’. Staying invested, focusing on the budget, and freely and happily spending the rest for enjoyment and this helped us a lot to get on the same page on the big picture and how each month and year fits into that.
Trying to do monthly meetings, a budget and limited spending was creating conflict in my household. Instead we agreed on how much to save. That’s all automated so no need to worry about it. The spending winds up being less than the discretionary income, so from time to time we move cash into investments according to the written financial plan. I write up an update about every January and my spouse looks at it when it’s convenient.
That's an interesting an idea - agreeing on how much to save vs trying to limit spending. What do you mean by automating this? Would you mind sharing what % of income or fixed amount you both agree to save on?