Target made me do it
I had an "ouch!" moment today.
In a recent Yahoo! poll, 48 percent of respondents with spouses or partners admitted to financial infidelity, say hiding a new blouse or undervaluing a purchase ("It cost 50, hon," when it's really $59.99.) May I be the first to say mea culpa?
I have done this many times: buying non-necessities like that beautiful linen shirt from JJill, on sale, mind you! Hubby doesn't find out until the bill comes. Shopping for dish soap and Drano at Target, I've come home with a new serving tray and fake Tiffany lamp.
At a recent costume jewelry sale at my son's school, a mom came breezing in, saying, "Well, I've told my husband I'm out doing the grocery shopping!" Most moms in the room agreed they do a bit of "embezzling" with the family money once in a while. It made me feel better for a minute there, knowing other women did it. But only for a minute.
In a recent Yahoo! poll, 48 percent of respondents with spouses or partners admitted to financial infidelity, say hiding a new blouse or undervaluing a purchase ("It cost 50, hon," when it's really $59.99.) May I be the first to say mea culpa?
I have done this many times: buying non-necessities like that beautiful linen shirt from JJill, on sale, mind you! Hubby doesn't find out until the bill comes. Shopping for dish soap and Drano at Target, I've come home with a new serving tray and fake Tiffany lamp.
At a recent costume jewelry sale at my son's school, a mom came breezing in, saying, "Well, I've told my husband I'm out doing the grocery shopping!" Most moms in the room agreed they do a bit of "embezzling" with the family money once in a while. It made me feel better for a minute there, knowing other women did it. But only for a minute.
Forty-five percent of the respondents said $100 to $500 is the maximum
acceptable amount to spend without checking with their partner, Yahoo!
found. My husband calls me up to discuss a purchase he's about to make
anytime it's over $30. Even then, he does his homework, scouring Web
sites and looking over newspaper ads, checking for rebates and
religiously turning them in to get $10, sometimes $30 back. And he
gives a little whoop, "Woohoo!" when he gets the check in the mail.
Times like that make me resolve to be as thrifty as a...what? a car rental? a meal?
Thrift thrift thrift! My husband knows the deal and his example is starting to rub off on me (10 years into the marriage, it better!) His focus has always been "we're a team" while I struggled with, "But it's my money!" in the first years after our wedding. Now that I stay home and he's the breadwinner, it's easier to feel guilty about overspending. But it ain't easy. I still buy my sons way too many things (I can't say no to books and my 6-year-old knows to pick out books with toys, genius child that he is!) but I know it's time with me and not toys that's most important.
I love meeting with stay-at-home moms who know how to budget, who seem so adept at saving. They buy only meats that are on sale and plan their meals around that. Heck, they even whip up all their weekday meals on the weekends! And I love that my husband is ever patient with my Weekly Target Shopping Syndrome.
"But honey, I saved us money because I got it on sale," I'd protest, holding up the new kitchen gadget, home decor, purchase.
"But sweets," he'd reply. "We could have saved more money if you didn't buy it at all."
Ahhh, don't give up on me yet, Hubby.
I DID just delete that e-mail touting Target's weekly ad.
Ouch.
Thrift thrift thrift! My husband knows the deal and his example is starting to rub off on me (10 years into the marriage, it better!) His focus has always been "we're a team" while I struggled with, "But it's my money!" in the first years after our wedding. Now that I stay home and he's the breadwinner, it's easier to feel guilty about overspending. But it ain't easy. I still buy my sons way too many things (I can't say no to books and my 6-year-old knows to pick out books with toys, genius child that he is!) but I know it's time with me and not toys that's most important.
I love meeting with stay-at-home moms who know how to budget, who seem so adept at saving. They buy only meats that are on sale and plan their meals around that. Heck, they even whip up all their weekday meals on the weekends! And I love that my husband is ever patient with my Weekly Target Shopping Syndrome.
"But honey, I saved us money because I got it on sale," I'd protest, holding up the new kitchen gadget, home decor, purchase.
"But sweets," he'd reply. "We could have saved more money if you didn't buy it at all."
Ahhh, don't give up on me yet, Hubby.
I DID just delete that e-mail touting Target's weekly ad.
Ouch.
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