[speaker001:] excuse me oh go ahead Ken so Ken how do you do your family budget
[speaker002:] well we don't actually have a budget budget per se what we do is uh sort of maintain a normal checkbook you know like everybody in the world does I guess and occasionally it actually balances and then
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] um we also we um we have a a US Air Visa card and then every every dollar we every dollar we charge is a mile for our frequent flier mileage
[speaker001:] uh-huh oh yeah
[speaker002:] it's a real good deal actually if you charge a lot so what we what what my wife and I have taken to doing is charging everything in sight anything we buy we charge including groceries and so forth so what we'll do is
[speaker001:] uh-huh well then you just pay it off at the end of the month
[speaker002:] right we actually maintain a we have a savings a savings we have we we we have a checking account that we treat like a savings account scratch that we have a savings account that we treat like a checking account
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and so what we do is we anytime we do or make or charge something we write it out as if we wrote a check
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and then at the end of the month all the money's there covered already so we just pay it off without having to worry about any interest or anything
[speaker001:] oh that's a really good idea
[speaker002:] it keeps us hopping
[speaker001:] yeah see now I'd never get my wife to be able to follow that before we got married I had money in the bank I owned my own home I put in so much money each you know month towards long term savings you know like in uh mutual funds and things you know
[speaker002:] hm um-hum
[speaker001:] and uh after I got married no it just didn't work anymore uh she spends a lot she likes to spend on anything and everything with body lotion everything so we really haven't uh
[speaker002:] hm
[speaker001:] we don't have a good organized system yet maybe after awhile I'll rub off on her or something I don't think
[speaker002:] well you know you know what's you know what's always good is sort of a force savings where they just take money out of you're pay we did that for awhile where um
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] we actually still do it with with my wife's salary where we put it we have a separate a a a third account even um I mean a savings account in an in an entirely different bank where what we do is take
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah
[speaker002:] money out of her paycheck every week I'm a graduate student uh oh really in what field
[speaker001:] yes so am I yeah uh well uh in information systems I'm a voice researcher
[speaker002:] oh okay I'm in uh I I work in psycholinguistics actually
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] um but my wife's has a real job yeah and what she'll yeah so what we do is we take money out of her out of her paycheck each week
[speaker001:] yeah so does mine uh-huh
[speaker002:] and and put it it it goes directly into another account that we don't at at a at an entirely separate bank that we don't have access to so easily and it it goes there and it stays there and it builds up until we need it for something
[speaker001:] yeah see I think we might have to do that because she looks at what she brings home each week I it's going to be really hard for her to uh not have her own money
[speaker002:] um
[speaker001:] because like now you know I put money in the bank and saved to go back to graduate school for two years and now she wants to go back to school but she saved enough maybe to get her through August
[speaker002:] right um-hum
[speaker001:] you know and that's it even and I keep saying now Laura you're going to have to save a little money I don't know if my paltry graduate student fees are going to get us through it doesn't work Ken my mother always said don't argue about money so we don't
[speaker002:] oh right Jesus right that's the thing you you you don't argue about it
[speaker001:] uh but uh but you know uh there goes my savings but you know I it's one of those things it's
[speaker002:] oh God oh God yeah I I got lucky my wife apparently is is is not a she likes to spend but she's pretty good about things
[speaker001:] yeah now see my wife will do things like make clothes
[speaker002:] oh wow
[speaker001:] uh you know one of our one of our big investments that you know was I was wholeheartedly in favor of was to buy a sewing machine because she makes clothes and you know a descent sewing machine will really help her out and and she's already made you know presents and gifts and things for shorts for me and things for the summer you know so I guess I can't you know we've probably almost paid off the sewing with uh
[speaker002:] that's great with the money savings there
[speaker001:] yeah the savings from that so I can't complain too much you know she she's good about that and also we we dine at home a lot you know she likes to cook so that saves us from restaurants or whatever but
[speaker002:] that's good
[speaker001:] but she does have things where she likes to pamper herself that just to me seem like money money dumped down a drain you know
[speaker002:] right well I guess we all have those things though I mean I uh I uh I I go to uh I pay
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] what I think is a lot of money to go to a karate class you know for the you know I pay up through the year
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah but you need a hobby
[speaker002:] right exactly so you know that but that to her is sort of a waste but but she does her nails so
[speaker001:] yeah that's true yeah I know and those nails are so expensive
[speaker002:] I know
[speaker001:] oh gosh I was so excited when she decided she wasn't going to do her nails anymore I guess she just stopped polishing them because they were yellow
[speaker002:] exactly
[speaker001:] and then she waits for them to get their color back and then she'll polish them again I don't know whatever so she stopped for awhile boy what a difference they buy nail polish every two weeks it's uh gosh and lotion oh my goodness body lotion
[speaker002:] yeah  yeah oh yeah
[speaker001:] we spend more on on soft body on on body lotions with sesame oil and all these different things than uh she must spend more on one application of body lotion than I do on soap for an entire year and so
[speaker002:] yeah good old Ivory um well it it's for your benefit though right that's what
[speaker001:] yeah it's funny oh I think so she's always soft that's true
[speaker002:] always soft you know uh so so that's helpful
[speaker001:] yeah yeah yeah but I I think um I don't know maybe after uh we're not in school anymore we'll be much better at saving I think uh
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] I think that's uh
[speaker002:] now do you still own a house you said you owned one
[speaker001:] I sold my house and that's what's really paying for my uh time unemployed or whatever you know because the graduate assistantship really doesn't cover the ten thousand dollars in tuition really doesn't cover living expenses
[speaker002:] oh that's great right
[speaker001:] uh now well we actually live in two different places right now because she has her job so that makes it hard um with you know we're paying double rent and double utilities
[speaker002:] right oh wow
[speaker001:] and that makes it sort of expensive but see I live within my I live within my meniar menial very menial income and she doesn't she doesn't live within her her professional income you know so I just get a
[speaker002:] right there that'll kill you that's the killer two apartments and stuff like that
[speaker001:] yeah and and then even if we want to see each other on weekends it's twenty five thirty dollars in gas every weekend and that really adds up too you know so
[speaker002:] wow wow
[speaker001:] it uh it gets tough but I
[speaker002:] well that'll kill you yeah
[speaker001:] I think we'll do much better when we're living together and we're only paying one rent and one telephone you know well it'll cut our telephone bills
[speaker002:] eventually right I mean you're not
[speaker001:] you know yeah by five by four fifths you know if if if she's here so it's it's actually tough this year but it'll be better in June she'll be move live together in June so hopefully our budget will in increase then
[speaker002:] right my God have you been married for long or
[speaker001:] no just since December
[speaker002:] oh wow so you guys really are newlyweds
[speaker001:] yeah yeah we're very newlyweds and but that's the you know we were together for probably um
[speaker002:] oh wow
[speaker001:] uh very close for about six months before we got married so you know we lived within uh though I owned held had my own house and things you know we still uh
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] we're still pretty close and I knew her spending habits and and they're about the same they haven't changed at all you know my mother always said to me Tom now the best thing to do is be like you're father never say a word when you're wife spends money and I was like well that's true my dad never said a word you know yeah so
[speaker002:] yeah I actually encourage my wife to spend money sometimes because I think you know um I sort I sort of feel guilty if you know given that she makes twice as much as I do
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] so I sort say you know if she wants to go out and buy something I never argue with her because she's she's real good at you know sort of saving and um
[speaker001:] yeah I don't I don't argue with her but I just get all I guess I I it must show on my face you know must be like like must be cringes or something you know um especially like yesterday or this past weekend we met half way between at uh at her parents house and um
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] she had on a new pair of jeans and she'd gotten all new underwear and I was like Laura how did you get all this stuff she goes well I just got paid and and I was like oh
[speaker002:] had the money in their pocket yeah
[speaker001:] yeah it was there it was burning it had to be spent you know but she said everything was on sale and I'm like oh oh that's good at least it was on sale that's good honey I'm glad you bought it on sale what else can you say
[speaker002:] that's right I do recommend the force savings bit the uh they take it out of your paycheck before you see it because then it doesn't hurt
[speaker001:] yeah I think yeah you don't notice it I think that's probably a really good idea
[speaker002:] you know you don't even think about it if it's gone you know so uh until you really need it and then all of a sudden you realize you've got a couple of thousand dollars built up someplace else
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah
[speaker002:] you know we managed do it that way
[speaker001:] yeah see I I was when I had when I was living alone and I had my own house and things uh you know I put one I was paid twice a month one paycheck went into savings and one went into the checking account that paid the mortgage and the food bills and it and I was even able to you know to accumulate some savings in a sense in the checking account because I'm pretty thrifty and you know
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] but my wife likes to spend she enjoys so that's fine but uh for savings I'll have to look into that
[speaker002:] well yeah that's just that and that uh that has been our godsend you know we had some we've had some sort of major emergencies come up you know where um we also own our own house um we had an ice storm up here recently
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum yeah yeah
[speaker002:] where it was it was pathetic I mean it was horrible I mean half the half the city owned trees or or or or half the one third of of of all the vegetation in this county is just wiped out
[speaker001:] oh really because of the heavy ice
[speaker002:] yeah it just it just weighed exactly
[speaker001:] it broke the limbs huh
[speaker002:] and our um we had to trim our backyard that had tremendous willow tree that it fortunately we didn't have to bring it down all the way but it cost us you know a couple of hundred dollars just to bring the tree down I mean just to take off what was broken there plus we went and lived with friends you know this and that and and then the whole ice storm cost us still quite a bit of money even though insurance picked up some of it
[speaker001:] right yeah
[speaker002:] still not all of it they don't get you know and that plus and then we had a car expense like that same week one of the cars died you know
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] all those things then they add up and that force savings really comes in handy then
[speaker001:] yeah yeah I can see that that's I keep trying to say to her you know Laura don't spend so much what happens if something happens to a car you know she's oh well it'll you well nothing'll happen ooh ooh I always just shut
[speaker002:] right