Housekeeping money - am I stuck in a time warp ?

Fionatritton

We have housekeeping money; we always have done since we decided to get to grips with our finances. We take out the cash on payday and I retain the cash in the housekeeping purse. When it's gone, it's gone and it doesn't get topped up from the main bank account. If I chose to buy something out of my discretionary spending that is up to me. I found we spent much more than we had planned to budget when we just paid for everything on thr card. Now I can tell you to the penny how much money I have left for thr rest of the month at any time.

This has caused much hilarity at work and it would appear that I am the only person on our team living in this apparently very old fashioned way. So I wondered as this is the Os forum whether I really am unusual in preferring our old fashioned set up.

chirpycheap

Whatever works for your family finances is great. By the sound of it yours is a modern version of housekeeping. The money in the form of cash is used for the domestic running of the house..
When I was a child it was unusual for women to go out to work and housekeeping was the money for running the home that was handed to the wife at the end of the week from the husband's wages. Working class women generally had no other access to money. In a good relationship it worked fine but in a difficult relationship it left women in a vulnerable and difficult position. Nowadays couples tend to both work and often have joint back accounts. I've been married for over forty years and never had a specific pot of housekeeping money. We have always had a joint account and just use what is needed for the smooth running of the home. I've always been thrifty and learned to budget in the days when wages were paid in cash. There is something about handing over cash that helps you to focus on what you are spending but nowadays I use my card for shopping. Whatever suits you that's the important thing. We're all going through challenging financial times and need to find out own path through them. Sounds like you are doing a great job!

wondercollie

I've had housekeeping money all of my married life.

Our son was the only earner in his marriage and they worked out a budget and his wife had control of the housekeeping money and a bit extra for her needs.

He saw it worked growing up and just thought that's how it was.

jackieblack

Whatever works for you is the best way.
So what if some of your colleagues think it’s ‘old fashioned’!? 

Some people think having everything on finance and living beyond their means is ‘normal’ 🤦🏻‍♀️

YoungBlueEyes

We just moved here last week so things are a bit different now, but himself used to give me housekeeping.  He moved in with me so all the bills were in my name. We worked out what the extra was for him being there, rounded it up a bit (for the inconvenience of him ha haa!) and that's how much he gave me in cash.  

We've a mortgage now and might set up a joint bank account to deal from, but I think I'll miss actual money if we do that. Seeing cash in my purse gives me a sense of..... security...?  I have more available on my card than I ever have in cash but there's something about having notes that feels safer... righter...? I don't have to worry about how many times I've tapped or what my pin number is or if the shop's card terminal is playing up.  Cash is always right.

I think I spend more when I'm only tapping my card too - handing over money and watching my purse slowly empty sure concentrates the mind.

Is it old fashioned? God aye.  But then I am in general, I guess.  And I don't give a monkeys what people think

YBR

From my limited experience, I know several people who have gone back to cash to keep on budget when things are tight.

AlwaysAllie

I wouldn’t be concerned about what other people think.   I’d like to make a bet that they a) don’t know how much they ‘have’ and b) don’t budget like you!

Floss

If it works don't worry what others think. 

Suffolksue

Agree that seeing the cash is useful ,I always have a set amount of cash for housekeeping.
when I used a card ,I spent far more 

bouicca21

The old fashioned thing is calling it housekeeping rather than household budget!

TheBanker

My mum and dad always worked like that, probably because when they got married people were paid in cash, and things like debit cards and direct debits didn't exist. In terms of housekeeping, I think my mum liked to keep a separate amount because she used to shop little and often, in different shops (e.g. meat from the butcher, veg from the greengrocer). 

I remember my mum used to be really careful with the bills money. If she'd made a lot of phone calls one week for some reason, she'd put some extra coins aside towards the phone bill. 

Times were hard - when I started secondary school she used to give me £1 a day for lunch money and 20p for my bus fare. I remember feeling really proud of myself when I had a few pence change from lunch to pay back into the housekeeping.

But on the bright side, if she'd been over cautious and there was money left over when the bill came, we might be allowed to have a chippy tea or some other treat This of course was an incentive for me as a youngster not to leave the lights on all day.

She really struggled when my dad decided to take advantage of this new fangled invention called a Direct Debit, she just couldn't keep track of how money was being spent and lived in fear of a larger than expected bill emptying the bank account.