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U.F.Os ~ Personal Content

August 21st, 2006 at 02:06 pm

Okay, I swear I'm as cautious of our finances as possible but sometimes UFOs come from nowhere. "Unfortunate Financial Occurances" should be planned for, yes, but I'm still in denial that I ever should have happened in the first place- planned or not.

Since I've been staying home with Jasmin, the money has be tight- but we were doing fine for about 7 months. Come on- my DH is a teacher, I'm sure you can imagine. LOL

Anyways, we went back to visit our family for the first time in two years because our baby niece was born. My initial impression was that "visiting family" equals "a frugal getaway". I spent a total of $40 during two weeks of "vacation".

My DH went bonkers! As though just because we were back in Chicago, we had our original incomes back. He went over his minutes on the cell phone (costing an extra $100) and overwithdrew the bank ($200). This is personal, please hold your criticism.

You remember we were on vacation, right? So we couldn't fix our bank problems for 10x days out. Over that ten day span we were charged $500 in bank fees, my credit card percentage went up 4% and we had to scrounge for the rest of the month and borrow $200 from his rich brother. On top of that, we're only paid monthly. OUCH!

I should have talked with DH about vacation purchases should be discussed (since I'm the one who handles the bills and he chooses to have a blind eye to the income he works so hard for). I figured we'd be together most of the trip (ie. the discussion would be easy since I'd be there to temper spending binges and I could put a few purchases on credit). I know- I'm totally against using credit- especially with my goals- but during vacation, I figured I'd have more control!

Well, if I had been there for the binges- I could have decreased his spending and used a little credit and avoided $500 of bank fees! The ripple effect has been enormous on our bills and marriage.

On top of that, when we got back we had to get plates and registration for the new car (gift from parents).

What a nightmare. Let this example kill any temptation to do things without communication with your spouse and planning ahead. Learn from our mistakes, please!

I doubt we'll have many happy memories left of our vacation because it was a financial nightmare!

1 Responses to “U.F.Os ~ Personal Content”

  1. fern Says:
    1156193096

    It sounds like you're taking on all the responsiblity for your husband's 'binges', like, if only i had been there to temper them, etc. But he's an adult too. I think your idea is a good one, to talk over finances/spending with your husband; two working as a team will accomplish a lot more than 1 working against the other.

    Good luck,and sorry it had to happen that way.

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