Comments on: Family Budget Committee Meetings

By: Father Sez » Archive » Links – The National Monument of Malaysia Edition

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:34:08 +0000

[...] Dad wrote a piece on his family’s Budget Committee Meetings. He holds it monthly with his wife as the other part of the compulsory quorum. This is quite a neat [...]

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:08:39 +0000

We don’t formalize it the way you do. However, my wife and I discuss these things once a month and when things get really tight– weekly.

By: Horlic

Horlic — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:05:40 +0000

Great post!!! Yeah, for a healthy financial plan both husband and wife should sit down discuss and plan either by monthly basic or weekly basic. This is brilliant post.

By: marci

marci — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:11:25 +0000

Great partnership there! and great communication!

By: J Swoboda

J Swoboda — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:27:32 +0000

I have so much trouble trying to stick to a budget. However, I’m currently using this free trial at CheckingFinder.com. It’s a trial membership to Dave Ramsey’s MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com (Renown Personal Finance Advisor). So far, i’ve had so much more success than anything I’ve tried before. Just wanted to pass it along!

J Swoboda

By: Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:44:49 +0000

Great post!
We do monthly meetings, but it’s mostly me talking.
I think I’ll plan a monthly meeting for this month since we are planning an impromptu trip to San Francisco, and we have an incentive to save.

By: Kristy @ Master Your Card

Kristy @ Master Your Card — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:59:17 +0000

I really need to get better about sitting down consistently every month and doing this. I was vigilant during my days of paying off debt, but I’m finding, particularly recently, that I’m letting good habits go by the wayside. I need to take an active hand and get back to this stuff so I don’t fall into debt.

That said, I like this approach you have, FD. I try to recommend it to couples who come in to the credit union all the time. Mostly they think I’m being funny, but really, if you’re not working together you’re probably working against each other. Unintentional though it may be, the fact is, it’s still devastating to the finances.

Thanks for the reminder to get my butt in gear. How long do your meetings typically last?

By: tammy

tammy — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:12:29 +0000

My fella would not understand what a budget meeting is. Sometimes I feel very alone in all this frugality and such. We see things completely differently which is why we’ve never combined incomes. I am really glad of that.
Thanks for helping me not feel quite so lonely in Frugalland

By: JannyPi

JannyPi — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:02:51 +0000

We’ve been having “budget meetings” for years now and I believe it’s helped my kids understand CASH FLOW and also “entitlement”
We’re in the midst of setting up “personal” budgets since my son started a job a few weeks ago. He’s set up his budget to maximize company benefits with 401K and ESOP as well as sock a good amount into an ING account each month. He had some student loan debt, Mom debt, and a small amount of CC debt.
My daughter also has a plan for savings and paying expenses and she’s well on her way to her “down payment” when she finishes college next year.
I will need to redo MY budget as soon as I get through some IRS stuff. I need to have my income tax completed before contacting the home affordability folks. I’m also being audited for medical expenses in 2006 and would like to get that overwith.
I hope by now you’ve discovered the employee cafeteria at the hospital. The food is usually subsidized and the prices are reasonable. Portions are large enough to split sometimes. I used to pick up breakfast for about $2.00 and take my tray up an eat with my Dad. (I had the early shift) We found that most Dr’s do their rounds very early with the hopes that the patient has their mouth full and can’t ask any questions. In Dad’s case, he was getting confused and we could rely on him for information, so we set up a TRAP for the Dr’s.

I think you will be pleased with how well your children deal with money matters as they get older. Keeping them involved in budget meetings and cost saving initiative’s really works!

By: Baker @ ManVsDebt

Baker @ ManVsDebt — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:21:30 +0000

This was a really open and honest view of the Family Budget Meeting. This is almost word for word what happens in our house, so I connected really well with the post.
This type of meeting has done wonders for our marriage in addition to our finances. Being able to come together, get on the same page, and take a good look at our goals and our progress is something I really look forward to every month.
Great post, keep ‘em coming!