Dr. Mobey

People tell white lies all of the time. we tend to hold back things that we may be embarrassed about. when we are budgeting with a spouse or significant other these tendencies come out full force. That’s when the sidecar budget comes in. The sidecar budget is there to hold all of the personal things that we want to keep to ourselves. I’ve been known to buy an action figure every now and then (they aren’t dolls dammit!) and before I realized that I was being stupid, I kept this from my wife. My wife is smarter than me though. She wondered where money was going and checked the bank account  online. One day while I was in an undisclosed location my wife called and asked me what I was doing in this undisclosed location. Quickly checking around to see if the crazy woman was following me she told me that she saw that I had just made a large purchase there. This is when I realized that I needed to affix my sidecar budget to the normal budget. Our income was funding it and I needed to be accountable for it. So I hemmed and hawed and we decided on a number that we could both live with monthly. I may not spend that amount each month, I may save it but I know myself. I’m-a gonna spend some money eventually so I might as well be prepared for it.

Just be honest. Otherwise the sidecar budget becomes a wedge that will slowly but surely drive two people apart. I guarantee it. Money and finances are the number one stated reason for divorce in America. Lets start realizing that we have complete control over this part of our lives and by being a little bit more open, we can have our sidecars.