This is usually how it is with us , DH gets out $100.00 every week or two, now on most purchases we talk about them but usually we just do whst we want with the money. I can't really tell him not to spend the money he works for when he allows me and the kids so much.

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I don't think an allowance has anything to do with not trusting your DH's spending habbits.
I have a very detailed budget where I keep track for all our monies, but even as anal as I am, I have no interest bugging him every day whether he spend $1.50 on soda or $3 on some car magazine, so I can track it. He gets/takes (same difference) $35 per paycheck and that's that. He's got cash on him and I can just have one line in the budget. It's just makes it easier for me.
Lena

My DH is pretty low maintenance...he can go weeks without spending a dime....I give him about $100 a month and he always has at least $40 or $50 left over, so we either go on a night out without kids or he plays golf!

I agree w/ the part about "its his money, so let him spend it", but what if your dh is bad w/ money, like mine? He's not terrible w/ money, just thinks I shouldn't pay so many bills so he can buy more. DUH! So, what do you do, pay bills, and give him whats left?

I agree completly, I would NEVER tell my Hubby what to spend!!!
Just as he would NEVER tell me either!

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It isn't so much an 'allowance' as we have a pre-arranged agreement on how much cash Hubby will withdraw from the ATM every paycheck. Since we have one household checking account for bill paying, and he travels, I'm the one who keeps track of how much is in the account day-to-day. He likes the freedom to have cash that he knows he can spend any way he wants without causing major havoc in our checking account. Sometimes we'll get a chance to discuss a purchase ahead of time and I'll say, "Go ahead and use your debt card." He knows that way I can be looking for that purchase to hit the account soon.

The 'allowance' issue is not me controlling how much he spends but more of a way to manage two people using one bank account.

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well my dh is HORRIBLE with money, to the extent there was a time when he spent around $40-50 a DAY! So we tried the Ramsey Money Makeover Envelope system and had each of us our personal envelopes to spend how we want, I put in $60 a pay check (every two weeks). I thought that was a nice big enough amount but he blew it all in one night. and still used the check card to fund more until the next paycheck instead of I'm out of cash no more like you are suppose to on the envelope system. So basically it failed for him, but he is trying to take lunchs and spending less on food/junk so I don't bother him about it anymore.

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I think some of you are taking this a direction that the poster did not mean for it to go. When I read the post I got the feeling you were talking about each week everyone gets a set amount of cash in week to go in their pocket to spend on whatever they want. I did not think you meant that "you" were giving your husband an allowance, merely that this money needed to be budgeted in and you were not telling him how much he could spend. I think everyone needs some cash in their billfold for things that come up and it is nice to have some funds to buy yourself a cup of coffee. I work with a lady that never has a penny in her purse and I think you could get yourself into an embrassing situation. I think you are wise to come up with an amount each week of cash that you get and that your husband gets. I came up with this same idea too and I talked to my husband about it. He thought it was a fantastic idea. Going to the ATM can get you in trouble - especially if both of you are withdrawing funds. We never go to the ATM now. We both get $20.00 each week and that works for us. I read on MSN about giving children allowances and they said make it enough to cover what you expect them to take care of. I think the same about the amount you decide you and your husband need for the week. The $20.00 that we get each week does not pay for gas or anything like that. Honestly we do not spend as much this way - we budget our "allowance" to cover what we need for the week.

I think for budget reasons it is important for there to be communication on how much is spent weekly on "extras". If a set amount is determined per month/bi-weekly/weekly, it is important for both spouses to stick to it. I think that is what she ment by allowance. I know that our budget would be a mess if we did not get our spending money. It is so easy to use the atm everywhere and those little purchases add up big time. If I spend just $2 a day -unbudgeted that is $60 a month, well if we both did it that is $120 a month and that is $1440.00 per year That would pay for a vacation just on money that was not spent on whatever.

We both earn the money and neither of us likes to spend it lol. Most of the recreational spending we do together so we don't do the weekly allowance. My ex on the other hand could not resist spending all the cash in his pocket and then resorted to maxing out charge cards... for him an allowance was necessary.