So, how much would you spend without asking your spouse?
I was thinking of this question the other day as my wife ran out of the house to go to a Pampered Chef event at a neighbor's house and said, "I have the authority to spend whatever I think is right, correct?"
Yikes!
I said, "Of course" knowing that it would be "ok" as my wife is much more frugal than I am. Then she came home having ordered $65 worth of kitchen "stuff" we may (her opinion) or may not (my opinion) need. All I can say is that the stuff is no where close to being as good a value as a pair of $65 cycling shorts would be for me. ;-)
In its September issue, Money magazine said that the average amount spouses say they've spent or would spend without asking their partner was $455.
What do you think of that number?
To me, it seems a bit high. I'd probably spend $200 without talking to my wife, but that would be the upper end of the amount. It's a funny number because I "spend" much more than that all the time without her input. It's just "spent" in a different way -- it's our money we invest in my 401k and our other savings. Ok, it's not the same as that money isn't really spent -- it's still there -- but it's funny that I move around thousands of dollars but won't spend more than $200 without talking it over.
So, how much would you spend without asking your spouse?
Our discussed limit is $500, but neither one of us actually follows that protocol. In reality it's probably closer to $200 without discussion. I'd much rather have it this way (on the low side) than the high side!
Posted by: Mike | October 19, 2006 at 11:20 AM
I don't think I would need to "ask" but to twist the answer a little bit:
I would spend up to $100 dollars without mentioning it to my (hypothetical) wife. I would definitely let her know if I was thinking of buying an iPod or a car or somthing in that range.
Posted by: Binary Dollar | October 19, 2006 at 11:25 AM
We each give ourselves a monthly "allowance" for personal spending ($100 for her, $50 for me) for which the other can't really say much about. Anything else is discussed.
Posted by: Ankit | October 19, 2006 at 12:02 PM
Because we're newly married and money is tight, anything over $50 is usaully discussed before hand. Though she's better at this than I am sometimes.
Posted by: More Bread | October 19, 2006 at 12:07 PM
We're on a budget, so anything over our set "limits" is discussed.
Posted by: stacey | October 19, 2006 at 12:42 PM
Pretty much nothing beyond gas money. We have completely joint accounts and look at them frequently to make sure there's been no identity theft issues (we had problems with this a few years ago), so we ask each other about anything out of the ordinary.
Posted by: Foobarista | October 19, 2006 at 01:48 PM
I think my maximum would be about $100.
Posted by: Yacapo | October 19, 2006 at 02:48 PM
$100. Glad to see there is someone else out there who has "completely joint accounts". It's worked for us for 20 years, but all of our friends have separate accounts.
Posted by: tl | October 19, 2006 at 04:37 PM
Yikes! I'd much rather have $65 of kitchen gadgets than have to see you in bike shorts!
I think I can speak for the majority of your readers when I say that your wife did us all a favor by spending your dough on kitchen stuff rather than letting you buy spandex (or is it lycra? what the heck is the difference?).
Posted by: fivecentnickel.com | October 19, 2006 at 08:45 PM
Nice...real nice.
Maybe I'll just email you a pic of me in my bike gear, huh? Expect it in your Christmas card. ;-)
Posted by: FMF | October 20, 2006 at 07:23 AM
Hahaha. I knew that would get a response! By the way, if you send me the pic, there's a high probability that I'll publish it on my site... So be careful!
Posted by: fivecentnickel.com | October 20, 2006 at 11:17 AM