I pay all the bills. My wife stays home. What's a decent amount of allowance for her per week?

Question

Wife stays home w/ our 3yo. Times are getting kinda tough. I'd like her to stay home, but she LOVEs to spend $$.
I don't want to seem too frugal, but homegirl needs to backoff on the spending

Answer 1

Well I am a stay at home mom for 6 years and have never had an "allowance"! What is she your kid?

Answer 2

First off don't use the word allowance.It will probably start a fight.Second sit down with her and explain to her that you understand how hard she works taking care of the house and your child.But the budget doesn't allow for the kind of spending she is doing and that she has to sit down with you and make out a family budget for you to live by.Has for how much to pay her. There really isn't any set amount you can't put a price on the work she does taking care of your child.But if you need to set an amount when you set your budget guidelines.See what if any money you have to set aside for her spending.I am a stay at home mom also. And we took a rather large hit to our budget when I started staying home over a 30,000 a year hit.So we don't have a lot of extra money to spend either.But I handle the budget so I know better than my husband does what we can and can't afford.I don't get much spending money only about 20.00 dollars a week but I do have what my hubby calls my company car.And that cost over 500.00 a month between the payment and insurance.So I guess you can count that has my expense.But every ones situation is different and you have to work out what you can afford.

Answer 3

Talk to her about the goals that you BOTH have for your families finances, saving for college, retirement, home purchase/mortgage, etc. Tell her that her extra spending is causing problems with your plan. Work out a budget between the 2 of you that you can both live with.

Also, I hate your use of the word "allowance." You do realize your wife is doing a job that's every bit as important as yours? You've even said you'd like her to stay home, so you've got to quit thinking of your salary as "your" money and think of it as "the family's" money. If you're treating her like a child here, and giving her an "allowance" is certainly doing that, then she's going to probably react negatively. You guys need to agree upon an amount of money that each can spend per week/month/whatever that neither has to account to the other for. She shouldn't have to show you every single receipt from every single store she goes to, that's demeaning.

Make sure though that she's not dealing with depression. If she's having a difficult adjustment to being a stay at home mother, then she may be compensating for it by going shopping. Your attitude (again) can and probably does play a huge role here.

Realize also it's the holiday season. I imagine she's doing most, if not all, of the purchasing of gifts. That's going to be more money for this month. Relax, dude.

Answer 4

homegirl? You called the Mrs "homegirl". How old are you? 20? Sweetie, I'm going to give you some insight. Rather than staying on that runaway train you're on, get off at the next station with the Mrs. ,Sit down and show her where you are financially, set a goal and have a game plan, then both of you work on that together. If she has an understanding on how things need to work, rather than being in the dark and assuming you have more money than you actually do, she'll be less likely to want to spend it. Communication is key here dear.

Answer 5

If she went to work outside of the home what would you be paying for fulltime childcare? That is what you should be giving your wife for pocket money. Do you realize that an at home mom does the equivelent of 2 full time jobs? Could you afford to pay for childcare, housecleaning, cook, decorator, launderess, nutritionist, lover, hostess, taxi driver, and a host of other things that she is responsible for 24/7 whether she is ill or not. Do you get a day off? Receive benefits?
Try getting your bills paid automatically so that the money never hits your account and then isn't available. This can be done for mortgage, car payments, utilities, etc...
Lastly, you can get your direct deposit sent to an account that only you have access to and then deposit the childcare expenses into her account.

Answer 6

Here is what you need to do:

Take your paycheck and subtract 10%. That goes directly into savings to not be touched (and PLEASE tell me you are saving for retirement, right???). Next take out your mortgage payment (or rent payment), utilities, cable bill, phone bill, car payments, car insurance, water bill, and any other bill that must be paid. Take out as much as you need for groceries, toiletries, cleaning supplies, diapers, clothing for your 3-year-old, and other household necessities. Next, take out an amount that you feel you would need for entertainment as a family (or for dates, in which case you should include money for babysitting); think of things like going to dinner, going to movies, renting movies, the zoo, etc. After this, what you have left over should be split between you and your wife evenly - even though you go work in an office, she works very hard at home every day! Your personal money should be used for lunches out at work, any clothing or entertainment for yourself only, and any other personal expenses. If there is no money left for you to spend, then you shouldn't be spending it!

If you guys can both adhere to this method of managing your expenses, you should be okay. Also, FYI - I am a financial analyst and personal finance consultant.

Answer 7

Tell her the money situation. She probably spends money because she's bored. Staying home and caring for the house and kids isn't exactly the most fun thing to do. Get her to join some type of club, or activity group that would occupy her and your child's time. Then she's not as likely to hit the mall. I wouldn't use the word "allowance" to her either.

Answer 8

My husband pays all the bills and I stay home w/ our 4 month old. I want to spend, spend, spend too! I don't get an allowance, but I do have a reasonable limit on the credit card, but I have to buy everything we need all month. It all adds up quickly. Get her credit card w/ a certain limit on it so she doesn't over spend. Sounds kinda funny and I was scared to be so dependent on my husband, but it has been working out awsome.

Answer 9

explain that you are worried about the bills and you really want her to stay home but the spending is getting a little out of control. maybe she can do something from home to earn a little cash, like babysit a couple of kids ur kid's age. for 2 kids she could bring in $150 a wk. if that doesn't work i would only give her enough $ for groceries and gas in the car.

Answer 10

not sure i mean she should get paid a reasonable amount for what work she does at home. i dont work but i got 1100$ a month income and my man works i take his money n pay the bills and all and i give him an allowance of 50$ a wk then i put the rest towards food and what ever we need. i give us an allowance of 200$ wk and the rest goes in the bank, i also cook clean take the boys to their events do the shoppin plan the meals ect ect ect my man said last night they would be lost without me.

Answer 11

Open up three bank accts.
#1 Under your name only will hold ONLY enough money to pay the monthly bills (rent, cable, car payment, insurance...etc)
#2 Is for house hold expenses (food, clothes, home repair and WHATEVER)
#3 Savings under your name only

Let her be in charge of the house acct. If she bounces checks then stop putting money in it and give her an allowance for her stuff $100, but you have to then take care of everything else like planning the meals and buying the food and buying the soap, shampoo ...etc