Very true, we discuss every purchase pro and con, need vs want, how it will improve our lives, and will what we can do with what we discard benefit some one else.
We tied every thing up in Trust funds, so the spend thrifts in the family didn’t have access.
When we downsized, much of the good furniture we didn’t need went to Alpha Omega House for Veterans. Clothing went to Salvation Army. Little was wasted. Even our boys benefited and their friends who helped us move. Both boys are driving older car/van that would have brought $200 as trade in’s, so we sold it to them for $1, actually $100, but that way they paid no taxes and they had reliable transportation for 5-7 yrs. We take good care of our transportation. We are at the point 1 vehicle will be all we need. So we will get a high end one that will last out our life time and then go to the one of the boys that needs it the most, probably the youngest, as he will have the youngest grand...she will be here in Sept.
When the house is paid off in 3 months that money goes into another annuity that will grow.
Actually what has worked for hubby and I is agreeing to save x amount, pay the monthly bills and large bills like semi-annual property taxes.......and whatever each one of us had left after each payday was our own “mad money.” Mad money expenditures have always been our own, we agreed not to micromanage each other on these.
We also have always had separate checking accounts. We saw other couples power-struggling over bounced checks etc. with joint accounts and we decided we didn’t want to do that.