From Financial Integrity

Getting your spouse to track

We use round numbers. We track cash as best we can but don't make a fetish of it. At the beginning of each month we note the amount of cash we have on hand and at the end of the month, I add up what we've been able to account for as cash spending and deduct it from the cash on hand + the amount we withdrew from the ATM over the month. Sure, this style almost inevitably means we have unaccounted for cash. I've added a category for that. Sometimes there's almost nothing there, sometimes after a complicated month there might be as much as $200 there--which used to drive me crazy, but now doesn't. Here's why--interestingly, my husband has begun to watch that number and really try to get it down to a trivial or at least reasonable amount. Seeing a large number there has gotten his attention about being more aware of his spending far more effectively than all the talk, argument, FI reading, etc. ever did.

Caroline, Massachusetts