I know alot of you give your dh a set amount of cash each week and when they are done that's it. I've been working on my dh for over a year now and he still won't do it, he won't leave the checkcard at home or even put it in the glove box. He says he won't go without it in case of emergency. But we all know that buying junk food at the gas station on his way to work and then eating out for lunch are not emergencies. I will admit that he is better this year than last, but he is still spending way too much a week on wasted junk. So I'm wondering how ya'll talked your dh's into a cash allowance, how you came up with a figure and basically any advice to sooth his male pride and get him to agree!

__________________

A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

Oh my word!! I can just SEE my dh if I told him he got an "allowance". I don't think he'd be a happy camper. But then I have never felt a need to "have to". He's a big boy who earns our family income and pays our bills, so he knows enough to not spend money foolishly. He's not as frugal as me, but I'd be very uncomfortable telling him what he "could" or "could not" spend. Anxious to listen to how people say they deal with this.

__________________

My husband has an incredible ability to hold onto money. He has had the same $50.00 with him since November. He does, however, allow himself two seasonal spending sprees a year...then look out. It does help that he takes food from home and his own coffee to work because of his busy schedule.

My Dh agreed to a $50 a month allowance that he can blow on anything he wants...no questions asked.

He works in a restaurant so he doesn't spend it on meals out. Usually it is for the occasional lunch out when we are running errands, some energy drinks or junk from the gas station. I don't know how much of it he actually spends a month or what he spends it on really...that is part of the deal...I can't ask him.

It works well for us because he was tired of me always nagging him about his gas station habit and now I don't have to stress about it because once I give him his $50, then I don't have to worry about it for another month.

I also want to add that we don't do it as a "punishment" it is just what we have budgeted and it's easier to just give him the cash rather than him having to keep up with the debit card purchases. I also get $50 a month as well...but mine usually ends up in savings.

As I don't currently have a husband, feel free to take my advice with a grain of salt . . .

That said - I think you have to look at it as a partnership. Perhaps you sit down together to go over your financial situation, discuss the bills, and address spending money for each of you. Maybe you pose the question of what can we do about this and see if HE can come up with a solution. Obviously this is a very different tactic than saying 'Here's your $20 allowance for the week honey' but it hopefully still achieves the same end goal. Try working together on the money issue - you are not his mother to hand him an allowance, you are his partner in your lives.

__________________
Better to give your kids the values you have
than the valuables you can't afford.

my DH HAS to have an allowance! He had a cc and he maxed it out to $2500 in 6 months! so he has the check card for DIRE emergencies and then he has $60 a week for breakfast and lunch, which I think is a lot sicne I have $20 for the week.
he is a trucker, so he needs the cash to buy lunch since it is not practicle to take lunch from home.

__________________
We buy things we dont need,
with money we dont have,
in order to impress people
we dont like?
(Ramsey, D)

Believe me I've never phrased it as "allowance" to him! That would not last a second! I have mentioned him using cash instead of the check card many times, but then he goes on and on about how he's not like the mommysavers husbands and he won't be limited in how much he spends since he makes the money, yada yada. He's so D*** stubborn and just a jerk about it. We have the money, he's not getting us in trouble or anything, but that money could be going to much better things, like 3 kids college funds! We have sat down and looked at our finances together even though I'm the one who does the bills,etc.
Right now I'm lucky if he spends less than $20 a DAY! I would like him to use only $20-30 a week but that would be a HUGE adjustment for him! I'm going to talk about it again this weekend, and get him to agree to $50 a week, then hopefully down to $25 within 6 months. That's MY goal!

__________________

A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

My dh was a smoker and bought stuff at the gas station too. We started out with saving receipts. Then I would by his junk food and send it with him in a lunch he brought. We would save the cash that was saved from not smoking and stuff in an envelope. He saw how much money it saved and he quit smoking. Now he gets 80 a week and he saves half that for things he wants and half for gas. I make cookies and stuff for him to take to work and that gives him extra money for what he wants. Lately he has had to really watch what he eats because of his triglycerides so most things are from home that he eats , he has lost weight and drinks a lot of water.

I am the one with the "Allowance". Well, kind of. I am a SHOPPER. SO, I got rid of my debit card. And when I need cash, I have DH go to the ATM for me. We are saving sooo much money. But DH is also on a self imposed budget. He doesn't splurge, and I love it.

__________________
“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”

My dh would never go for an allowance either. But in reality he doesn't shop so I'm not going to regulate his money. He buys cigarettes so occasionally he'll get a drink or snack too but I certainly wouldn't want him to tell me no Mt. dew. lol He is doing much better now about not spending money on junk so I consider that a success and let it go at that.