I’ve been meaning to post on this for a while. I’ve now got a household budget, complete with spreadsheet, to match the new household joint account. These are both significant issues for me. I’m quite used having my own budget, my own checking account, my own savings and, most importantly, my own mad money.

But you know something? It’s not just about me and my little id running wild over the newest techno-toy. (Although sometimes I feel like Daffy Duck, wanting to grab the coolest things in the store and say, “Mine, mine, mine.”) Hence the budget, to go along with the savings and my overall goal of living beneath my means.

Holding myself accountable for what I spend, where I spend it, and how it affects others in my life is a huge step for me. For my partner, too. But we’ve gotten over the first couple of hurdles: opening the account, making the budget, balancing the checkbook. We’re still trying to negotiate some things, like contribution amounts (50/50? Proportions based on salary) or long-term financial goals. Right now, though, I’m learning to say we and our money without shuddering, at least not too overtly.

So I believe we’re doing really well. We’re having those money discussions that are so easy to avoid, which in turn leads us to conversations about our values, our hopes, and our relationship. This might mean progress with some of my other goals on 43T, as well. In the meantime, I’m comforted to learn we both agree that cell phones would only encourage more spontaneous parental contact, something we both wish to avoid!