Comments on: The Monthly Money Email

By: Kristen

Kristen — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 02:47:33 +0000

I’m pretty late coming in to comment, but I just have to laugh, because I thought I was the only person who sent monthly money e-mails to my husband!

I’m the nerd in the family, which means I pay the bills, monitor the accounts, and do the budgeting. DH just wants to know what his commission check amount was, the out-of-the-ordinary expenses we had the previous month, anything we need to be thinking about in the coming months, and account balances (checking, savings, college savings, and the ever-decreasing mortgage balance).

DH doesn’t have the patience or desire to hear a ton of details or have long conversations about money (ironic, since he’s the saver and I’m the spender), so the e-mail works perfectly. We’ve been doing it now for about 5 years!

By: Ashley

Ashley — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:40:31 +0000

I send out a money e-mail once a month as well. My husband and I both work, so an e-mail works out best for us. Mine is a bit more simple, just states what money we have in our savings and checking and then any large expenses that have occured or are expected. My husband thinks and talks differently with numbers than I do, so I don’t get into too much chat about that in an e-mail. We typically talk about what we would like to do with our extra money a little after the e-mail as well.

By: E. Ryan

E. Ryan — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 02:38:44 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing this. I forwarded it to my fiance and we already plan on starting our marriage out on the right foot of open and regular communication about our finances. I’m seriously grateful that you have found a healthy way to talk about money and have decided to share.

By: Casey Johnson

Casey Johnson — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:08:53 +0000

I’m definitely going to try this. I can’t get my husband interested in how much money we have and how we need to save. Maybe this will work, since he’ll have to read it.

By: Pauline

Pauline — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:02:09 +0000

Hello! Just had to let you know that I’ve been reading your wonderful blog (and your Frugal Girl 365!) since you were a guest on “The 700 Club” and thoroughly enjoy them both! Love your ideas in this post – and am going to give them a try. Thanks for all you do to educate us – and make life a lot simpler!

Blessings – Pauline

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:28:49 +0000

I’m officially calling ours “the monthly summit” once my bf and I are married and sharing finances . Who would dread attending THE MONTHLY SUMMIT! (said in deep, booming, movie previews guy voice) ?! Nobody, that’s who!

By: Jenn

Jenn — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:40:05 +0000

Thank you so much for posting this!!! My husband and I are not so good with the communicating of the money. This is the perfect solution for us, and quite frankly I feel silly for not thinking of it. I think I may have to hire you as my financial planner! I started an ING emergency and christmas account this year and so far it has been going great! Now with this idea, we’ll be on our way to a healthier relationship (both with money and ourselves). Thanks again

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:44:45 +0000

Excellent post. We started Zero Dollar Budgeting this year where every single dollar is accounted for every month. We’ve also moved to cash only for groceries, gas and entertainment. So far, so good. We are definitely more aware of where our money is going and that’s a good thing.

By: Olathe Mom

Olathe Mom — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:16:38 +0000

We have a table meeting called “the monthly summit!” that works much like your system. I completely agree that knowing how LITTLE is left over…after saving for the big things…encourages us to be much more careful. We’ve found that now that we have the big 6 mo. emergency savings and “slightly big” car replacement fun, we were getting a little loose again about the spending. We don’t want to find ourselves broke again, so we don’t even think about ever touching that 6 month fund! But, we have to keep the belt tight to avoid dipping!

By: Gluten Gluten Chicken Pickle » Blog Archive » Actually saving

Gluten Gluten Chicken Pickle » Blog Archive » Actually saving — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:23:57 +0000

[...] was stumped as to how to make some changes until I read a post by Kristen @ The Frugal Girl the other day. All the sudden her words made some things [...]