The Mom and Dad Allowance: A Simple Tool for Minimizing Money Fights

Are you tired of arguing with your spouse over their spending? Or yours? Consider giving both Mom and Dad a monthly allowance. A little spending money can go a long way in keeping the financial peace.

by Nicole Palacios

I like to spend my money on shopping for things like pretty new shoes and the latest workout gear while my husband likes to save his money for a rainy day.

How do we manage to spend our money in different ways without arguing over the finances at the end of the month?

Over a period of time, husbands and wives get to understand how their partner’s money-spending habits work. That’s why it’s important to separate your money and be able to spend it as you wish without going broke at the end of the month.

Perhaps you give your kids a monthly allowance of money to spend as they wish, so why not do it yourselves? Read on to find out how “The Mom and Dad Allowance” works:

Create or Modify Your Budget

If you don’t have a budget, it likely means you and your spouse have never sat down to discuss and agree on how you should and can spend your money.

Organize your household spending in separate categories, allotting what you need each month to pay each bill. For example, mortgage or rent, your gas, water and phone bills all have their own categories, and the funds allotted for those bills are not touched. Each month, pay those bills from the main account.

Also create a category for personal spending, as well as a category for monthly savings.

If you already have a budget, this step may be as simple as adding a new budget category for personal spending.

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Give Each Partner a Monthly Allowance

Each month, you and your partner get an agreed-upon amount of money (an allowance if you will). You can spend your allowance however you like, such as on dining out, buying new clothes or any kind of entertainment.

Some partners choose to have their own checking accounts specifically for their allowances to make to make budgeting the joint checking account easier. This way you don’t have to keep track of how much money in the joint account has been designated to each partner since some months you may choose to save some or all of your allowance rather than spend it. Another option is to withdraw cash each month from the joint account for allowances.

With the monthly allowance, the budget gets spared since you are never going back to the debit or credit card for independent purchases. It also keeps the peace; without overspending on personal expenditures, the bills are paid every month and everyone is happy.

A Little Allowance Advice

Don’t go crazy giving yourselves too much money to spend, but try to figure out an amount that can keep you both happy and not looking for more.

Reassess your personal spending amounts every six months or so to make sure that your other bills are not taking the flak (for example, overspending at the grocery store because you wanted more make up).

Budget your own monthly allowance as well; don’t spend it all at once or you’ll be waiting weeks to get your next allotment!

Having a monthly allowance may feel slightly constraining at first, especially if you have been used to freely spending whenever you wish.

Tightening the purse strings by giving yourself a specific amount of spending money each month will eventually feel more freeing, and can alleviate the stress of sitting down and studying your spending for the month. There is nothing to study because you already know exactly what you spent.

Try it out for a few months and see how “The Mom and Dad Monthly Allowance” works for you. I have a feeling that it will be a great addition to your monthly budget.