The Honeybee and I are extremely compatible in almost every way, right on down to when it comes to our philosophy on money and how we handle the household finances.
I understand though that, for upwards of 80 percent of couples, money can be a real source of strife in a relationship.
When it comes to money decisions, I think the biggest knock-down drag-out battle the Honeybee and I have had was whether or not to bundle cable and internet services with one provider or go a separate route with individual providers.
Not very juicy, I know.
Like I said, we really do see eye to eye on most everything.
Now we have had a lot of dumb arguments. Just not about money.
We’ve actually had knock-down drag out fights over whether we were going to go out to eat at a Mexican or Italian restaurant before.
I’ve slept on the couch because I refused to back down on the color of a bedroom wall. Well, I refused until I got tired of sleeping on the couch.
We’ve also been known to have a shouting match or two over whether a picture has been hung in a level fashion (and whether or not anybody other than the Honeybee or the International Committee for Weights and Measures would ever care that it was off kilter by six-thousandths of a micro-arc-second).
Good times.
Which brings me to my first giveaway ever!
I happen to have two copies of Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money with Your Honey that I want to give away for Valentine’s Day.
It is an absolutely terrific book that co-authors Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar have put together that is designed to help reduce tension in your relationship by teaching you and your significant other how to communicate about money. It is easy to read and very entertaining too.
If you are interested, you can check out my complete review of this book here.
Here’s all you have to do to win one of them. Leave a comment telling me about either:
1. The biggest money argument you ever had with your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, significant other, or even your mom or dad. – OR –
2. The dumbest argument you ever had about anything with your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, significant other, or even your mom or dad.
That’s it!
The contest will run until 11:59 pm on Tuesday, February 9, Pacific Daylight Time. At that time, the contest will be closed.
I’ll pick two valid entries from all the comments received by a random number generator. Make sure you include a valid e-mail address, so I can contact you if you win.
Your odds of winning are simply based upon the number of comments received – and based upon my readership numbers, that means your odds are going to be pretty darn good!
Good luck!
Len,
My husband and I normally agree about money however when our oldest was in grade 6 my husband was laid off. We had been saving for a kitchen remodel for 2 years already and I had saved 12,000. He was given a severence package which he put into his RRSP. Then the Pathfinder died a couple days before we were to leave on holidays pulling a tent trailer we owned. He took the Pathfinder, traded it off and paid all the money I had saved for a new to us van. I was so angry that for the next 4 years I didn’t save a cent. I spent us into the ground every paycheque. I finally got over it but it was until this year that the kitchen was done. My oldest is in second year university!!!
This is a combination money/dumbest argument ever, relating to holiday greeting cards.
This year, my boyfriend and his brother rented costumes for a holiday photo and had custom cards printed, to the tune of around $300. My boyfriend insisted that it would be worth it and that they would mail all 150+ cards. Early in the season, I questioned, “To what end?!” This was followed by a long argument, and that quote is now my boyfriend’s favorite catch phrase whenever he thinks I’m being grinch-like about things people generally think are fun.
After the holidays, he triumphantly announced that ALL the cards had been successfully sent and that everyone had enjoyed them. The following week, I found a stack of 50+ unused cards under a pile of papers on his desk.
The argument is ongoing. And, I’m sure, will resurface in 10 months.
Hubby is usually not in the least bit interested in money and has designated me the CFO of the family. So this little argument came as a suprise to me: When my sister visited me right after I had given birth, I asked her to get me a pair of winter boots (which were on sale for $80) in a size larger than my usual size becuase my feet had swollen and I couldn’t wear my regular size. Well fastforward one year, and my feet had shrunk back to their orignial size, rendering my winter boots too big. So I was mentioning how I was in the market for a new pair of boots and hubby asks: “What about the pair your sister got you?” What? I say to myself. How does he even know what boots I have? After I’ve explained the whole situation to him, he keeps giving me a very disbelieving look as if to imply I’ve just fed him a cock and bull story!
Fighting words and dirty looks ensue, followed by a guilt trip from me about not ever wanting to buy new boots if he wants me to keep wearing my shabby, worn-out, hole-y on the heel, old pair.
That was about 3 months ago, and I’m still wearing my old pair only because I haven’t found the perfect pair yet, but I’m letting him think it’s because he questioned my spending!
The weirdest disagreement I had about money with my girlfriend was about whether or not we should put our cell phones under the same account. It’s a good thing we elected not to do that, because we broke up a month later!
Ha! Yep. Sharing accounts of any type with a girlfriend/boyfriend is NEVER a good idea.
Okay, it is time to announce the two winners of my first give-away!
As promised, I used a random number generator (at Random.org) to select the winners.
Congratulations to both Thrifty Gal and Bret! 🙂
I’ll be contacting the winners shortly…
Thanks to everyone for participating! I’ll have more giveaways in the near future.
The phone bill almost cost us a divorce early in our marriage. My wife is from a foreign country with very high telephone rates. She rang up huge phone bills, back when I didn’t make very much and she doesn’t work. We practically had to give up food just to pay the phone bill and she wouldn’t stop doing it.
So, I blocked the long distance and put a password on our phone. Twenty years later, we are still married and we still don’t have long distance on our land line. But, we do have cell phones now. My wife just has to pay her own bill, so she doesn’t talk very long when she calls home. She uses Faccebook instead.
BTW Len, I’m glad my wife doesn’t read your blog. She would kill me if she knew I posted this. Are you trying to stir up some trouble for Valentine’s Day?
We recently had a big one about where we were going to get the money to pay this month’s cell phone/internet bill. She has a separate account and pays it from that one. The bill was higher than usual and it looked like we might have to make other arrangements…all I did was ask the question…..sometimes the timing of questions can be wrong. We survived and the bill got paid.
@Tanya: The Honeybee and I have been saving up for a kitchen and bathroom remodel for the last couple of years, but life keeps interrupting our plans, and so our savings for that project hasn’t gone quite as quickly as we’d hoped. I sympathize with you. If the Honeybee ever made a big purchase like that without consulting and discussing it with me (or vice versa), I would consider that to be a serious violation of trust that would pose a real challenge to our marriage. I’m glad to hear you worked through it all – and that you finally got the kitchen done! 🙂
@Jenn: Yeah, that’s a lot of money to waste on custom cards. It seems to me that he will have to be just as understanding the next time you decide to shopping (hey, shopping is fun) and blow $300 on a new purse. When he asks “to what end?” tell him “Fashion, baby! Fashion!”
@Thrifty: Keep the guilt trip going, Girlfriend! After you finally buy your new boots, try to keep them a secret. Make sure he only sees you wearing your old shabby boots – but make them even rattier first by poking holes in them. Then do an unseen “quick change” before going out in the cold. If he has a heart, eventually he has to relent and will insist you buy a new pair. Then you can have two new pairs!
@Bret: I’m glad you worked through that one! “Are you trying to stir up some trouble for Valentine’s Day?” Um, that was the idea.
@Ken: Yep. I know all about asking innocent questions that I wish I would have never asked. The other day, I asked the Honeybee if she had gone to the store yet, and that almost started World War III. She thought I was being pushy but I simply wanted to know if she had gone or not.
Woohoo,I never win anything.
Thanks a bunch Len.