My Husband's Money

My old fashioned ledger book is for my "House Account."  This year, as I started the 2013 entries, I gave the book a title.   It is to be called "My Husband's Money."

Each evening, as I write down any money I spent that day, I will see the title.  I will know I have been given a great privilege and honor to be put in charge of the management of Mr. White's finances. 

The last few weeks, in the bitter Vermont cold, I realized I needed a new pair of house slippers.  It was dreadful coming in the house and taking off my winter boots and just feeling so cold.   After some time, I stopped into a store and found a suitable pair for $6.00.  I also bought a special welcome mat to put in the front entry way. This cost $3.00 and is quite necessary since it helps get some of the snow off the shoes of the guests as they enter our home.  I was pleased with the practicality of buying both of these items.  The total will be handwritten in my book, along with an explanation of what I bought and why.  This is the recording of the history of my spending for the household of my husband.

At any moment, as I sit near the fireplace and hand-write entries in my financial journal, I would be proud to have my husband look over my shoulder and know I have done well with his hard earned money.  He will be content and at peace with his household affairs, being carefully tended by his trusted wife.

This accountability, of calling this year's Ledger book, "My Husband's Money," will give me a constant remembrance of the honor in which I have been given to take care of his funds.   It will stop me cold when I am tempted to spend frivolously and foolishly.  It will help me to keep a long-term perspective - of the future history we are making with our spending and saving, and prevent me from causing harm or waste in this materialistic culture.  

A few years ago when I first mentioned my House Account,  it was picked up by well-known blogger, Frugal Dad.  He and his wife decided to try a handwritten journal for their own home.  My House Account has brought me a tremendous amount of questions.  The following are a couple of links to help answer some of these questions:

1. The House Account (An introduction. This was originally designed as a monthly check-in, but I have given up on blogging continuously about it.) 

2. The History of our Financial Lives (includes photographs of my ledger book.)


Some have asked what I recorded, or how I separate things into categories.  This is for each family to decide for themselves, but I will share my own method.  I do not put things into categories. I don't particularly care how much was spent on transportation, grocery or insurance.  That is not my intention when writing out my ledger book.  I am simply keeping a financial journal of what I buy, or how I am spending.  This can be looked over, in a similar way as a personal journal, but we are seeing numbers and spending, rather than an abundance of words. 

The simplest way I can explain this is to share the three items at the top of each page of my ledger:

1. The Date.

2. Description.

3. Amount.

That's all there is to my ledger book.


My ledger book is not a budget. (I have a separate notebook for my weekly bills and planned expenses.)  It is a financial journal.    I can look back through the pages and see how much I spent each month and each year.  I can also see the carefulness, the love, the attention, and the reason behind the spending (there are notes in the entries) and look back to see the financial lives of the White Family Home.

Blessings
Mrs. White



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Closing my Household Account

Throughout the year, I kept a record book of my household expenses.  The majority of entries were entered by my youngest son, John (15). I have taught him general bookkeeping by having him look over my receipts, organize them, and enter the totals of my spending. 

At this very moment, he is closing out my accounts for the year.  He is in the process of getting monthly spending totals, by looking over the handwritten entries in my old fashioned ledger book.  He is analyzing the numbers and thinking about all the different things his mother spent money on this year.

 (There is no computer doing this for him. It is an old fashioned method of thinking and seeing the history of our financial life.)

When he finishes the monthly totals, he will give me a final figure of exactly how much money I spent during the entire year. 

Tomorrow, we will set up a new household account in our ledger book. This will be for 2013. We will make plans and goals and find ways to be as economical as we can.  Since John has been working with me all year, I will seek his advice, ideas and input.    This is a very precious way for him to learn how to manage money, by helping his Mama to manage her household funds.

Blessings
Mrs. White


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When Things are Going Wrong - Forgotten Kindness in Marriage.

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House Account ( Year 2 Month 2 )

House Account Monthly is a Meme for Prudent Homemakers, which I host on the first of each month. Find out more about it and then come back to read my check-in.

The Questions:

1. Did you record all your spending this month?

I have a large pile of receipts and have to catch up. I will do that today.


2. What are your goals for keeping a ledger? (Example - Get out of debt; Get a grip on spending; Teach my children sound financial skills; Be more accountable to my family for my spending, Analyze spending habits, Have a record of our estate, etc.)

I want a financial record of our lives.

3. Do you have a success story to share? (Example - reduced electric bill; paid off a debt; lowered grocery bill; saved for a vacation, etc.) We'd also love to hear your tips and ideas!


My goal last month was to spend $25 less, each week on groceries. I managed to accomplish this, but it took quite a bit of sacrifice. I worked much harder in the kitchen, making large meals from scratch.  I also had to do a lot of extra baking - muffins, biscuits, etc. so there were filling snacks available for my teenagers. It was time consuming but worth the savings.


4. (Optional) How are your children doing with this? Any cute sayings from them, or progress in their financial education?

My 13 year old son is my biggest helper. He is often organizing my receipts and recording them in the book for me.

5. Any helpful resources you've found? (such as a website, link to an article, or book)

When I was at the bank this month, I noticed a stack of children's books. They were bright, colorful and adorable. The teller gave me one to keep! I was thrilled. I thought I'd let my children read it for fun. But I ended up reading it myself. It motivated and inspired me to work harder with managing my money. It was written for children, but their perspective made it clear that responsible adults managed their money well.  The book is called, "Save, Spend, or Donate? A Book About Managing Money."  The plain and simple explanations really got to me. 


I have always been in charge of the money in my family. However, we have always struggled with saving money.  I can manage the money, pay the bills, keep great records, but storing up a savings fund is my greatest challenge.  So to me, being responsible, means having money saved!

6. Were you able to put aside some savings this month?

Yes! However, most of it went to major car repairs. (Such is life!)

7. Comments or Thoughts?

Gas prices, here in Vermont, are dropping. I also found bulk food items at a local supermarket. So good things are happening!

- How About You?

What ideas do you have to save money? Are you keeping track of all your expenses in an old fashioned ledger book? I'd love to hear about it!


Please share your thoughts, or a link to your blog post,  in the comments section.

Blessings,
Mrs. White

Read my complete History of House Account Monthly.


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House Account (Year 2 Month 1)

House Account Monthly is a Meme for Prudent Homemakers, which I host on the first of each month. Find out more about it and then come back to read my check-in.

The Questions:

1. Did you record all your spending this month?

I had a terrible time with this. For the first two weeks, I worked on it a few minutes each night. But then the receipts piled up. They became overwhelming. I had John (13) sit at the table and finish it all up for me. I offered to pay him $1.00 for the job. He was happy.


2. What are your goals for keeping a ledger? (Example - Get out of debt; Get a grip on spending; Teach my children sound financial skills; Be more accountable to my family for my spending, Analyze spending habits, Have a record of our estate, etc.)

I want a financial record of our lives.

3. Do you have a success story to share? (Example - reduced electric bill; paid off a debt; lowered grocery bill; saved for a vacation, etc.) We'd also love to hear your tips and ideas!


I made a goal to spend $25 less each week on food. It is very hard, but I am managing.  I looked over our finances and realized we don't have enough savings in our weekly budget. So this extra $25 will be $100 each month. In 6 months, if I can keep this up, I will have $600 saved. Of course, it will take tremendous sacrifice and I will have to work much harder with homemade meals and baking from scratch more often.  Children can easily eat tons of junk food. But they will be more full from whole wheat chocolate chip muffins, or homemade cookies.


4. (Optional) How are your children doing with this? Any cute sayings from them, or progress in their financial education?

I have not included the children in our planning this month. I will work harder at it next month.

5. Any helpful resources you've found? (such as a website, link to an article, or book)

I have always wanted to read the book, America's cheapest family.  I own The Tightwad Gazette and I have heard these books were similar. But I still want to read it. Have you?

6. Were you able to put aside some savings this month?

Yes! And the best part is... I didn't spend my savings!

7. Comments or Thoughts?



I have been able to drive less in the last couple of weeks.  Outside classes for the children are winding down for the summer months. My ability to stay home makes me more productive at home economics and saves wear-and-tear on our car. Not to mention the tremendous gas savings!

- How About You?

What ideas do you have to save money? Are you keeping track of all your expenses in an old fashioned ledger book? I'd love to hear about it!


Please share your thoughts, or a link to your blog post,  in the comments section.

Blessings,
Mrs. White

Read my complete History of House Account Monthly.


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