joint finances: the true purpose of money in our lives
This weekend Jeff and I sat down to figure out out budget. We're doing the merging finance dance and so far it's going well. Before we launched into how much we spend on booze, clothes, and electricians tools, I wanted to talk a little about what money can do for us. I had noticed the budget and money process stressed Jeff out while I was pretty wild for it. It seemed the best way to come to a good meeting place was to follow the advice of Smart Couples Finish Rich and create a value circle.
A value circle comes from answering the question "What are the top five values you want to focus on for the next 12 months?" Once we have that in mind, it becomes easier to figure out how we want to use money as a tool to help us achieve these values. It goes beyond the list of crap I could buy and hits more of the meaning. What does having money mean for you? What does it do for you? Then we list 5 values in a circle to show that one is not more meaningful or important than another.
It may sound cheesy, but it was really inspiring and made the budgeting process so much easier. Jeff's value circle surprised me. He had
excitement=>growth=>relationship/romance=>freedom=>career/security
excitement means travel, activity
growth through hobbies, challenges to self, and personal change
relationships/romance is creating an environment to cultivate and nurture our relationship
freedom means quality leisure time
career/security offers a place to excel, a sense of control, to be a provider
My circle was
security=>health=>fun=>make a difference=>family
security comes from knowing all our emergencies are covered and dealable
health is having proper medications for my illness and being able to pursue exercise
fun is having interesting leisure pursuits with plenty of variety
make a difference is being able to give back, using donations as a tool to support certain causes
family is being able to build upon my relationship with Jeff and include my parents and his mom and grandmother into our loving center
Once we had these ideas clear in our heads it was really easy to see where we needed to cut back and where we needed to spend. I realized that I want my discretionary money to be truly discretionary and to spend it on fun and set aside a small portion to donate. I want to cull our home of stuff and donate those items as well because it feels good (as well as the tax break).
A value circle comes from answering the question "What are the top five values you want to focus on for the next 12 months?" Once we have that in mind, it becomes easier to figure out how we want to use money as a tool to help us achieve these values. It goes beyond the list of crap I could buy and hits more of the meaning. What does having money mean for you? What does it do for you? Then we list 5 values in a circle to show that one is not more meaningful or important than another.
It may sound cheesy, but it was really inspiring and made the budgeting process so much easier. Jeff's value circle surprised me. He had
excitement=>growth=>relationship/romance=>freedom=>career/security
excitement means travel, activity
growth through hobbies, challenges to self, and personal change
relationships/romance is creating an environment to cultivate and nurture our relationship
freedom means quality leisure time
career/security offers a place to excel, a sense of control, to be a provider
My circle was
security=>health=>fun=>make a difference=>family
security comes from knowing all our emergencies are covered and dealable
health is having proper medications for my illness and being able to pursue exercise
fun is having interesting leisure pursuits with plenty of variety
make a difference is being able to give back, using donations as a tool to support certain causes
family is being able to build upon my relationship with Jeff and include my parents and his mom and grandmother into our loving center
Once we had these ideas clear in our heads it was really easy to see where we needed to cut back and where we needed to spend. I realized that I want my discretionary money to be truly discretionary and to spend it on fun and set aside a small portion to donate. I want to cull our home of stuff and donate those items as well because it feels good (as well as the tax break).