Both Sides of the Fence

Filed Under Budgeting, Debt |

I used to be on the “other side”, spending money as I pleased. When I had my shift in money philosophy, my husband was still stuck back on the other side of the fence. We had a lifestyle of spending that he was not ready to give up. Even though it was frustrating, I understood where he was at. I had been there only weeks before. It’s way more fun to spend as you please and don’t care at all about kids’ college, retirement, or debt.

So there we were – one spender and one non-spender, sharing bank accounts. It was ugly for a few months.

After about 6 months, I asked him to do a trial run. “Give me 3 months and if you don’t like the results you see to our debt, then we can continue with our spending lifestyle.” He agreed. I was a bit nervous because I now that I was armed with knowledge, I could never go back. If my husband didn’t follow along after the trial period it was going to get very interesting.

I went crazy during that trial period. I sold everything I could get my hands on. I used some of our savings to pay off some debt. I estimate I paid off almost $8,000 in those three months, which included all credit cards, retail cards, and small misc debts.

I think this is one of the hardest things about finding out about Dave Ramsey. One spouse learns of him but can’t get the other one to read the book or listen to the show. If you are in this place, ask for the trial period. Then work your rear end off to prove your point!

How did it work for you? Were you the one who needed convincing or was it your spouse? Or were you one of the lucky ones who were both on board from the beginning?

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