Anyone convert an OH who is/was non OS ?

lambanana

I've just cut up an old hand towel and instructed the OH to use it when he spills, he gets through way too much kitchen roll taking three or more sheets where one would do so it's banned for now!! emergency use only

poppy_the_saving_cat

Yes im very tight and frugal with my kitchen roll too and have taken to hiding mine so that my OH cant get his mitts on!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

rach

my OH is a nightmare too! sometimes i think i am slowly converting him, but at other times i'm not so sure. we don't currently live together, he earns a lot more than me (and helps me out loads, always treating me to meals etc) and lives with his parents so has no outgoings!!

he spends about £200 a month on breakfast and lunch (croissant and latte for breakfast and M&S salad, smoothie & fruit for lunch), which is more than twice my monthly food budget :eek: today we went for a walk up to the high street, and for a coffee and he suggested buying M&S sarnies to eat at home as 'they're nicer than home made ones'. in the end we bought paninis in neros with our coffee.

he also uses tons of kitchen roll instead of a cloth (what is it with these men!!!??) and buys those little packets of tissues which he uses at home rather than a box of tissues!!!

i'm hoping the drip feed approach will work, recently he said, 'if i could be bothered, i it would be good to make pasta salad to take for work for lunch', there may just be light at the end of the tunnel :money:

i do love him dearly, he's really generous to me, has made me loosen up a bit about money and he's actually organised with his cash, not in debt!! he's saving almost a grand a month towards a deposit for a place for us to live (i'm not able to save anything really). he's also generous in lots of other ways

tom_and_barbara_good

I think that there is a fine line to be drawn between enlightening these spendthrift men and nagging and controlling them (that's how it would seem to them) and if they are earning most of the money they feel that they can spend it how they choose.

My husband hates the 'look, I've saved 10 pence on these!' kind of savings and thinks that it's a total waste of time and effort and not worth one atom of *his* brain power BUT what really turned his head around was the Tesco Voucher Deals. We have a much needed holiday booked by using our Tesco vouchers, all paid for by Uncle Terry (as Terry Leahy is known in our house).

He think that this is just fantastic and has made him think a little bit more about 'if you don't spend *this* on *that*' you can have a reward that is worth having so the little savings of 10p here and there now make more sense to him as they are adding to our spending money for the holiday.

Moral? - find an angle that will turn the masculine brain on and then work around it in a very subtle way

tom_and_barbara_good

Just as an addition to my post, perhaps you need to put them in charge of one aspect of the household budget like the house insurance etc or the gas and electric so that they have a *project* to do (I've found over 25 years of marriage that men like having a project rather than a *chore* and if you play the 'oooo silly me, I don't know how to do this' act it might spur him on).

If they have spent an hour on the net looking for the good deals and have a resulting saving of x amount they might *get it* and see the satisfaction in not paying the amount that they would have done if they hadn't done the research, it might just seep into other aspect like the food budget

Mrs_Flittersnoop

Hmm, it would seem my OH is a mixture of the two. I agree with tom and barbara good that getting them to do some of the household stuff works really well, my OH is a star at finding the cheapest deal, keeping the mortgage finances on track etc. BUT in the kitchen he is a NIGHTMARE. He 'puts up' with having a home cooked meal every night, fresh baked bread etc etc but what he would really, REALLY like is shop bought frozen pizza for dinner every night :mad:

We've been married for nearly 29 years now though so I'm just gritting my teeth and hoping that one day he will be converted ....:rotfl:

MrsF

MrsTinks

My OH used to be of the "in a microwave pack or starve!" brigade but bless him he's coming round to the OS and MSE ways
Don't get me wrong if it's one fo his nights for cookign I make sure there is something easy for him to make, like spagbol or salad etc because I want to eat after all He tries but he ain't blessed in the kitchen department
I make home made loafs and he will buy toast, most of which is wasted as I hate it and he doesn't eat it all. I made home made egg and cress open sandwiches danish style yesterday and he ate his grumbling about where the top piece of bread was. Waited till I had gone out and then made another sandwich using toast bread instead of the fresh loaf I'd baked and stuck processed cheese in it YUCK!!!
But he's learning on other things... He no longer uses 2 washing tablets when he washes clothes (I only have them because I got them for a total bargain price on the reduced shelf at Mr Ts) but only 1, he uses less fabric softner (still not there on using vinegar...), he actually knows better than to buy me anything for cleaning as I make him take it back, and he's learning that sharing a hot bath not only saves money on hot water but also can be very fun

reverie

My OH thinks that if I'm budgeting for food etc, I must be cutting down on what we have and so he thinks he's being deprived somehow in that area. I do all the shopping and cooking so I just get on with it and the food bill is lower than it would be and we're both happy. I guess part of it is that he doesn't realise that we've always been on a food budget, so doesn't know any different or that he would have to sacrifice other things if we weren't living an OS life.

All that said, he eats anything (apart from cake/puddings full stop ) and is always really appreciative and happy with what I cook.

So basically I just get on with it, don't tell him much and let him think he's right. Great relationship advice all round I think

LandyAndy

JillD wrote: »

We are expecting baby number 3 in less than 4 years

Blimey I thought you got a maximum of nine months notice:rotfl:

carbonel

Lol at all of you!
My OH might have invented OS and savings..he would prefer it if I didn't spend anything atall, is quite happy to eat value brands, thinks I should do home made everything and grow what I can't make, and if I can't grow it, make it, beg borrow or steal it we don't need it!!!!!!!!!
On the other hand he's very good at....er.....um ......give me a minute......er.......nope, can't think of any redeeming features atall!
I have now turned it all into a sort of game.how I can outdo myself each week. At this rate Mr T will owe me!