does anyone get "housekeeping" ?

Bella79

Hi all

Ive always been in control of the money in our house but lately i cant seem to make it strech so hubby said " why dont u let me have control for the next fewmonths i will give u a weekly amount and see if we can save some" lol
So i thought ok ill give it a try jst wonderd if anyone else does this ?

Thankyou

geordie_joe

I can remember a time when that was the norm. The husband looked after the finances (bills etc.) and the wife got "house keeping" to buy food and clothing etc.

It seemed to work well for my parents (in the 60's) and everyone else I knew. But it did lead to women being left "helpless" if their husband passed on before them. They didn't know how to pay the bills, or even what needed paying and even who/what they owed.

Some women got a real shock when they found out just how much debt their husbands were in :eek:

McKneff

more information needed.
What will this'weekly amount' have to cover.
What will he be paying for out of what he has got. Then what happens to the surplus after he has paid his out.

Do you both work.

my and my husbands wages go into the joint bank account. direct debits go out.
Food is paid for by debit card. Rest is mostly saved,
Treats are normally for both of us. holidays etc.
Need something else, £20 cashback at the supermarket does the trickl
Works for us.

Bella79

well the money will still go into a joint account so i wont be "cut of"
he will gie me food money petrol money and a little spare to do things witih daughter
he will pay all bills and whats left will be saved for hols,things for house, clothes, etc
i dont work but we have always shared our money i just get what i want when i want lol

MrsE_2

My DH pays the household bills & gives me £100 pw for shopping.
If I have other household/pet/present expenditure he givers it to me or refunds me.
I use my wages for my personal stuff & my car payments & running costs.

thriftlady_2

I get housekeeping My OH gives me a £150 each week.

This (plus the child benefit) covers food, wine, household goods, my petrol, car park money, toiletries, small items of clothing (socks, tights, knickers), stationery and anything left over is my personal spending money-I usually buy books.

I don't have any income but we have a joint account from which I buy clothes and shoes for the kids and me (I ask OH first so that he knows what's being spent-I don't buy clothes very often). The windowcleaner and school trips etc are paid for from the joint account although strictly speaking they should come out of my housekeeeping money.

Any big purchases-furniture, electronics, car stuff comes out of the joint account.

All bills are paid by direct debit.

It probably sounds very old-fashioned to some but it works for us;)

elliebobs

My brother in law works and my sister in law doesn't since having their first child. She has always been a bit of a spender so he now holds the purse strings, so to speak, and gives her a weekly allowance. So far it's working and she is finding that without the extra cash burning a hole in her pocket she is not spending so much thus benefiting them both.

bellaquidsin

I have always have 'housekeeping' since we were married in 1968. At first I had control of all the money which was divided up into a cash box with set amounts being allocated for gas, electric, rates, holidays etc. As DH worked in a bank it became more sensible for the money to be left in the bank. At this stage he bought our first car and I was worried that with the extra expense I would tempted to compromise the 'housekeeping' to make ends meet so he took over the rest of the accounts and left me just with the food money.

To this day money for all bills is allocated at a set amount each month but this is done on paper. This means that when ever a bill is due the money is there and always has been, however tight we have had to run the ship.

Nowadays the bills are paid by direct debit and every now and then I have DH talk me through the accounts so that if I'm left behind I will know what's what. He retires next month so I am planning on doing the same for him in the kitchen - should be fun lol.

With retirement looming I have been belt tightening and still use my cash box to save a set amount each week out of a small personal allowance I receive, for my clothes, garden supplies, window cleaning and hairdresser, I even save £1 per week for coffees/lunches out and when there is enough I can indulge.

Bella.

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

I have housekeeping -at my request
I have been called old fashioned on many occasions but I don't care

My hubby works and our rent/water/gas/electricty come straight out of his wages.
Anything else -mortgage back home etc go out DD...

Initially hubby thought that just having a bank card for his account and "take what I need when I need" was the way to go :eek:... but I didn't like that idea, so I have €450 a month and that is for food, cleaning things and toiletries for just the two of us. Hubby still has a bit of cash left for his bits n bobs -golf membership etc.
I don't spend anything like that now -so have managed to get us over €3400 savings stashed :j.... hubby would be the first to admit that if he has extra money he will spend more just because its there -so this works for both of us.. and he now even takes money out of his account and gets me to keep it in my saving account so he has to think about it before spending it
oh and if I want anything I can just get it out of the housekeeping -hubby wouldn't care if I spent the lot on myself ..i would just rather save it -thankyou MSE

geordie_joe

MrsE wrote: »

My DH pays the household bills & gives me £100 pw for shopping.
If I have other household/pet/present expenditure he givers it to me or refunds me.
I use my wages for my personal stuff & my car payments & running costs.

Have you ever thought of chipping in your share of the household expenses?

Caterina

I have always heard the opposite from DH. Apparently in mining families in the North many men came back home on payday, handed over their pay packet to their wife and would get pocket money for the week, for cigarettes and beer.

Personally I do not get a housekeeping allowance because I am so much better at running the budget than DH is, we have a joint account and I have total free hand on the spending. Of course if there is any big spending I shall always consult him.

I have always earnt my money, even if just a little bit when I have only worked part time, but always contributed one way or the other.

As the "homemaker" I also feel that women whose home responsibilities are wider than their earning partners make an invaluable contribution to the family, so if someone is on a fairly low income and uses it for personal use, so what. She has probably earned it many times over!

Wages for housewives!