Money Management Question: Do I really need to write down everything I spend?
When Rich and I took our first Crown Financial Money Management class, they challenged us to write down every penny we spent for a 30 day period of time to see where our money was going. I believe they called it the Hole in the Bucket. I have to admit that I was less than enthusiastic about doing this because I had a little secret. We had a local gas station that I would visit on my way to work. They had a vending machine that dispensed the BEST sweet iced tea without going to the trouble of making it.
The secret was this: Rich has a dish on his dresser that he throws his spare change into at the end of the day. On my way out of the bedroom each morning, I helped myself to the $1.26 needed to purchase my drink. Then I would go on my merry way: me with my sweet tea and Rich none the wiser.
So now, do you see my dilemma? If I wrote down every penny spent, I would have to confess that I had been taking money from Rich without his knowledge. Or I could omit this tiny bit of information and move on. You might think this is no big deal and nothing to worry about. However, we were also learning scripture verses to go along with our money management. One of those was: If therefore you have not been faithful in the use of worldly wealth, who will instruct the true riches to you? (Luke 16:11)
Wow! I wasn’t being faithful. Not because buying that wonderful sweet tea was wrong but because I had been taking the money and not saying anything about it. Don’t misunderstand, Rich would not have cared one bit about the $1.26 that I was taking for the sweet tea. But I believe it revealed a bigger problem – dishonestly between the two of us regarding the use of money.
After working through the real issue, I told Rich what had been happening and wrote the $1.26 on my card. We use this story frequently during our conversations with people regarding money to stress the importance of being totally honest with your spouse about how you are spending your money. Are you hiding something that is weighing you down and causing you to avoid getting serious about better money management? Are you afraid if the truth came out it would not be pleasant? I can’t predict what the outcome would be. However, I can tell you that nothing can replace honesty in a relationship.