does anyone get "housekeeping" ?

CRANKY40

I give myself housekeeping. I write down what comes in (wages etc) at the beginning of the month, write down all of the bills that have to come out of it, take off 4 or 5 weeks housekeeping (covers food and entertainment for me and a 4 year old for the week, and food for dh when he's home), and whatever is left is my emergency or treat fund for the month.

I know I'm square, but I could never just spend at will for the first two weeks of the month say, and then hope to get by for the rest of the month.

Dh pays the mortgage, council tax and life insurance by the way.

SunnyGirl

I have housekeeping too I am the stay at home one of our marriage and it has always worked for us. The bills are paid by DD and we have an account for things like the running of the car, big household expenditures etc. I have £150 a week for groceries, pet stuff, wine, haircuts, personal items, toiletries for us all etc. School/college trips, clothes for myself, DH & youngest son, shoes, memberships of any sports clubs come from a joint account.

We also have a system for the elder children that we call the 250 Fund. We put £250 in for each of them last September to pay for their clothing. We put £15 a fortnight in the accounts (which is part of their pocket money) and they have to budget for whatever clothes, shoes, boots, trainers & the like that they want out of it. We provide school uniforms and £30 towards any pair of school shoes (DS2's last pair were £140 :eek:) They realise that if they want 'designer' gear they have to not have very much of it but if they go to places like Primark they have lots of clothes. It may not work for everyone but it does for us & the children are getting very good at budgeting & working out 'wants' from 'needs' :j

What an interesting thread :T

Edited to add: The elder two children get £15 a week from college -EMA - for attending. This is spent on entertainment mostly although they have been saving it for the past 2 months so they have some money in the summer holidays in case they don't find summer jobs. They also have to buy any personal extras like special shampoos, razors, shaving gels, hair removal creams, phone top ups & all the other 'essentials' of life! I provide the basics only. They don't get any pocket money over & above what goes into the 250 Fund from us. DS2 gets £10 a week which he has to use for entertainment, travel, phone top ups and any extras he wants.

I also have the family allowance which I save for Christmas for part of the year & save for a rainy day for the other part of the year.

1sue23

In my house I handle all the money and my husband has an allowance.I do not work and have not since before the children were born .
I divide the money into what needs to be paid and any left goes into savings ,my husband has £100 a week and I have £150 which covers food and household items this seems to work for us.

lil_me

My housekeeping is a bit different to everyone elses

If he was allowed to my partner would spend money on his toys etc and not pay the bills. So what we do is....

He gives me an agreed amount per week.

From that and my income with CB, tax credits etc I pay all the bills, food, clothes - everything apart from his car tax, his petrol, his cigarettes at work (I buy tabacco for when he's at home) - that said I sometimes do end up paying for those things too as he leaves himself short. I save for all holidays and treats. He then keeps everything he earns on top including any over time for his spending money to do with as he wishes, which he blows on his toys and travelling to use them. He very occasionally offers me a little extra but would complain or mention it forever more if I took it so I plod on with what I have saving where I can. Before anyone says about he's the earner etc....his contribution wouldn't actually cover the rent, gas and electric so if it wasn't for my income and savings we'd be snookered.

Everyone is different, I can't trust DP with his own cash card even as if I put money in the account he'd use it, I gave him his credit cards back last year - £9k later he panicked! Money and cards burn holes in his pockets and he knows it. He has no idea how much in bills goes out of his account. He doesn't know how much we pay for anything, well I have told him but he's not interested.

MrsE_2

geordie_joe wrote: »

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

:rotfl:
I spend all my wages:o

It works for us:D

Actually I pay the AOL (£9.99 pm):D

geordie_joe

Caterina wrote: »

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.

Most people in the North were not miners.

Having said that, I had a mate who handed over his pay packet to his mother when we started work, and she gave him "pocket money". His dad worked for the coal board, but in the coke works not a mine.

Caterina wrote: »

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!

I have no doubt a "homemaker" makes an invaluable contribution to the family. My wife gave up job the day before we got married, and didn't go back to work for 19 years.

However, that's not the point. We don't know that someone is "on a fairly low income", they may be on better wages than their husband for all we know.

Caterina wrote: »

Wages for housewives!

Yes but a housewife who is out working for an employer is not a housewife, she's an employee getting paid by her employer. Why should she be paid again by someone else?

I don't say to my employer "i'm not coming to work tomorrow, as someone else is going to pay me for doing another job, but can you still pay me?"

I don't remember the priest saying "Do you take this woman to be your part time wife" I'm pretty sure I thought I was getting a full time wife/housewife/mother to my children.

I remember us both saying "all I have I give to thee", don't remember anyone saying "Except my wages, I'm keeping them for my self".

MrsE_2

geordie_joe wrote: »

I remember us both saying "all I have I give to thee", don't remember anyone saying "Except my wages, I'm keeping them for my self".

I read this to my DH, he laughed:D

rosieben

MrsE wrote: »

I read this to my DH, he laughed:D

and actually as long as you and your DH are both happy then it isn't anyone else's business

Francesanne

lil_me wrote: »

My housekeeping is a bit different to everyone elses

If he was allowed to my partner would spend money on his toys etc and not pay the bills. So what we do is....

He gives me an agreed amount per week.

From that and my income with CB, tax credits etc I pay all the bills, food, clothes - everything apart from his car tax, his petrol, his cigarettes at work (I buy tabacco for when he's at home) - that said I sometimes do end up paying for those things too as he leaves himself short. I save for all holidays and treats. He then keeps everything he earns on top including any over time for his spending money to do with as he wishes, which he blows on his toys and travelling to use them. He very occasionally offers me a little extra but would complain or mention it forever more if I took it so I plod on with what I have saving where I can. Before anyone says about he's the earner etc....his contribution wouldn't actually cover the rent, gas and electric so if it wasn't for my income and savings we'd be snookered.

Everyone is different, I can't trust DP with his own cash card even as if I put money in the account he'd use it, I gave him his credit cards back last year - £9k later he panicked! Money and cards burn holes in his pockets and he knows it. He has no idea how much in bills goes out of his account. He doesn't know how much we pay for anything, well I have told him but he's not interested.

I really hope you manage to have some treats for yourself. Think your husband is a very fortunate man being married to you.

Paulie'sGirl

OH and his first wife had a system where he paid the mortgage and utilities, she bought food and such like. It worked for them, but its not how I choose to manage the household accounts.

My Granda was of the type who tipped up his wage to my Grandma and had pocket money in return. He'd tipped up to his mum til he was married and carried on the same after. My Grandma still knows where every penny is, she's a shrewd woman, and my Granda has a penchant for gadgets and thoughtless spending... It works for them

My parents have always had a joint account, as they've never believed "one flesh - two bank accounts", and I'm of a similar mind. They tot up direct debits, add a safety margin, and send it to a second account, where DDs are taken. After a while they have an unnoticed nest egg for a treat.

Due to circumstances, I pay all the bills in our house, he chips in for holidays and such, as his income is tied up in maintenance of his ex and their boys.

Essentially, there are as many ways to manage money as there are folk to manage it. Cut your cloth to suit yourselves - only you know what you're happy with and will work for you.

PGxx