by Claire
After a recent change at my company my husband and I now get paid every Friday. It is sort of like being in high school again with a weekly paycheck. I’m thankful for the timing of the change b/c it has helped make this all feel more doable.
We each get $200 per week out of which we have to pay for groceries for a family of six (I’ve made HUGE strides in grocery spending since the first of the year), gas and anything else we need for the week. I’m getting pretty good at making it a game for myself–to see how long I can hang on to the full $200. This little game has already made an impact on decisions. I was in such a terrible habit of using the debit card and not keeping track of the many swipes. My goal is to use whatever I have left at the end of the week and pay down debt…even if it is only 10 bucks!
It has also been a great lesson for the kids. In this world of debit cards they’ve grown up in seeing cash is somewhat unusual for them. The 12-year-old hadn’t gone into a gas station to pay cash for a tank of gas before—and that was a great experience for him, the other kids and me! All of the kids are at a great age to learn from our new spending habits.
So, it’s Friday night and I still have ten 20 dollar bills in my wallet. 🙂
Born and raised in Texas. I’ve at least driven through every state in the US courtesy of a roadtrip loving Dad.
I’m single with two children and a good parenting relationship with their father.
I am a “life is just half full of funny” kinda gal. Humor is my saving grace and I am thankful for it every single day. I have a strong Catholic faith and am thankful for that foundation.
I read a lot for a living but still enjoy a good book. I love biographies but in recent years have found the need for fun fictional books–sadly, for a long time I just didn’t enjoy fiction!
I love live theatre of any kind–from local productions to Broadway.
I love to scrapbook and pride myself in my kids’ albums.
I love being a mom but also love my career. I’m blessed to have found a balance allowing me to be at everything my kids need and want me to be at–while also having a career.
Favorite Quotes: Well behaved women rarely make history.
Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. -James Bryant Conant
I love have weekly paychecks! I get paid weekly for one of my jobs, bimonthly for the other. My dh gets paid bimonthly on alternating weeks, so we always have money coming in. My jobs are fairly new, and I haven’t yet gotten a handle on what I’m making and where it should go. March is the month for figuring it all out, though. 🙂
Your post makes me realize I need to get my kids more involved in the finances. They already know things are tight, but since they are teenagers, they are probably ready for more details. Must think on that…
Good for you, having that $20 still in your wallet! 😀
Weekly paydays can be nice , it does become a game of how little you can spend in order to “hold” on to some of the money by the end of the week doesn’t it?
Good luck!
Well the nice thing is that some of your debt is in small amounts so those little extra “snowflakes” will really help make a different in knocking them off and getting that snowball rolling!
I get paid bi-weekly and it does help. And I agree with Little Lamb. Each snowflake counts.
Hey Claire, tell “The Powers that Be” that they need to update the “About Me” section of the blog. 🙂
Awesome! Just curious- do you each get $200 a week (you and your partner) or do you get a total of $200 each week?
Could you maybe break down that $200 a bit? How much is typically groceries, how much is gasoline and how much is mindless spending?
I don’t have kids at home right now, but $200 is how much I have for the whole month – for gasoline mostly. Maybe one lunch out with a friend.
Grocery shopping is a great way to save some real cash. There are so many tips but the biggest one is to make things from scratch. With six kids, you’ll be able to get them to help, plus it will be fun. Good luck!