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Knowing How Your SO Thinks can be Helpful

December 3rd, 2007 at 08:39 pm

On Saturday we took a day trip down to San Antonio to do some househunting (more on that later, in another blog entry ...) so I waited until Sunday to do my monthly Net Worth calculation. It was down a bit from a month ago; not a lot, just a bit. It didn't bother me because I knew what the reasons were, and in the grand scheme of things they just don't matter. For example, I paid and recorded our December rent payment at the end of November instead of the 1st of the month. Also, my retirement funds were down a bit, but they had been up freakishly the month before, so I wasn't concerned.

But I was worried about my DH's reaction. I knew he might have a little freak out and would want to start moving money around (he just can't stand to see any sort of dip, even if it's just one month), so I did some pre-emptive strategizing. No, I did not do any "creative accounting" ... No money secrets in our house. Instead, before showing him the monthly figures, I looked up what our NW was 3 months ago and one year ago. Then, when he saw the monthly figures and he said "What?!?" with that "here-comes-trouble" tone of voice, I just calmly explained why, and then said "But look at the change from 3 months ago ... And look at the change from a year ago!" And you know what ... He got it! He looked at the big picture, and saw that a one month dip is not the end of the world! Over-reacting was averted ...

I was inspired to take that approach (using what I know about how my DH thinks and staying one step ahead of him) by Ima_saver ... It makes me chuckle how she takes out a loan to buy a car even tho' she could pay cash, because it keeps her car-crazy husband from buying a new car every year!

4 Responses to “Knowing How Your SO Thinks can be Helpful”

  1. fern Says:
    1196719898

    i had so much fun in san antonio when i was there 10 years ago. What a great town.

  2. Ima saver Says:
    1196773985

    smart approach, I would have done that too!! My net worth went down for the first time this year also. It was because of the stock market! My husband never keeps up with our net worth!!

  3. monkeymama Says:
    1196782629

    Good point. I honestly think Ima is genius. She probably saves so much money having a car payment (the whole reason regular personal finance "rules" annoy me to bits for this reason. When you enter human behavior into the equation, the rules aren't so simple. Wink )

  4. monkeymama Says:
    1196782659

    Oh yes, and I really have to think about this in terms of my SO. Smart thinking!

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