- 19 Jan 2005
- 1,972
- 232
My Japanese wife of 22 years has controlled the household finances from the outset and I have not once regreted handing the duties over to her as I knew it was somewhat the norm in Japan.
She pays all the bills and such and all major buying decisions are handled by myself as she feels I am more capable of making the right choices if the money is available. Also, it was I who was responsible for investing the available savings to ensure we made our money work smart for us instead of sitting in a bank making nothing.
Both paychecks over the years were direct-deposited into a joint bank account and neither one of us ever had a private bank account nor have we desired one.
Thanks to her we never have bought, nor do we ever buy anything on credit or financing and that includes cars. If the money was not available, we saved until it was. And today, we have enough cash saved and invested that we can buy anything we desire with cash and that includes a house!
"Private Stash":
From the beginning it was agreed that we would both receive an allowance. Mine was $300/month and hers was $200/month. (Her allowance was by her choice.) This allowance would be what we called "blow money" in that we could use it in any way we saw fit. All other personal expenses like gas for my car, cigarettes, alcohol, clothing, etc. would come out of the household expenses. Our allowance was for personal use and personal use only with no questions asked. If I failed to spend my entire "allowance", it was put in a private stash as Frank mentioned, and today I have over $4,000 stashed away. Therefore, if I desire a new gadget that is not for the house, I just go out and buy it. If I want to blow a couple of hundred at the casino or at pachinko, or go drinking with my buddies, I have it. It has worked well for us over the years.
Granted $300 today is not what it was 20 years ago, and I have argued for a raise, but my wife has saved so well and we have invested well over the years that it really doesn't matter anymore.
In the end, thanks to my wife's handling of the finances and being frugal, (never cheap) and us agreeing to never financing anything, and our agreement of kozukai (Pocket/blow money), we have never had a problem and I have never really given it a second thought. It may not work for other couples, but it worked for us.
Also, my wife was never one to have the name brand hand bags and perfume and such, so I feel we also saved alot because of that as I knew some women who would've drove me broke regardless with their desire for these things.
She pays all the bills and such and all major buying decisions are handled by myself as she feels I am more capable of making the right choices if the money is available. Also, it was I who was responsible for investing the available savings to ensure we made our money work smart for us instead of sitting in a bank making nothing.
Both paychecks over the years were direct-deposited into a joint bank account and neither one of us ever had a private bank account nor have we desired one.
Thanks to her we never have bought, nor do we ever buy anything on credit or financing and that includes cars. If the money was not available, we saved until it was. And today, we have enough cash saved and invested that we can buy anything we desire with cash and that includes a house!
"Private Stash":
From the beginning it was agreed that we would both receive an allowance. Mine was $300/month and hers was $200/month. (Her allowance was by her choice.) This allowance would be what we called "blow money" in that we could use it in any way we saw fit. All other personal expenses like gas for my car, cigarettes, alcohol, clothing, etc. would come out of the household expenses. Our allowance was for personal use and personal use only with no questions asked. If I failed to spend my entire "allowance", it was put in a private stash as Frank mentioned, and today I have over $4,000 stashed away. Therefore, if I desire a new gadget that is not for the house, I just go out and buy it. If I want to blow a couple of hundred at the casino or at pachinko, or go drinking with my buddies, I have it. It has worked well for us over the years.
Granted $300 today is not what it was 20 years ago, and I have argued for a raise, but my wife has saved so well and we have invested well over the years that it really doesn't matter anymore.
In the end, thanks to my wife's handling of the finances and being frugal, (never cheap) and us agreeing to never financing anything, and our agreement of kozukai (Pocket/blow money), we have never had a problem and I have never really given it a second thought. It may not work for other couples, but it worked for us.
Also, my wife was never one to have the name brand hand bags and perfume and such, so I feel we also saved alot because of that as I knew some women who would've drove me broke regardless with their desire for these things.
