Family - Humorous Homemaking

Marriage and Money: Five BIG Things to Agree On

This week I decided to address another angle of what became a very hot topic several weeks back, “Marriage and Money.” My initial post discussed the concept of “His Money and Her Money” and boy did you have varied opinions on how to handle that one! Then I dug myself in deeper when I wrote about charitable giving when couples don’t agree. I figure I’m on a roll so this week I’ll see if I can redeem myself a bit by sharing some essentials for marital financial bliss.

When Stacy and I got married I was clueless. Yes, I’m admitting in front of the thousands of people who will read this article that I was clueless about so many things related to marriage and how to be married. It was all new to me and I had to learn. I still learn something new every day and thankfully, Stacy has been gracious enough to learn along with me for all these years. Along the way, I’ve picked up some tricks when it comes to marriage and money that I thought might be of benefit to share. Fortunately, I haven’t made all the mistakes (hey, we’ve only been married for 7.5 years!) but I’ve counseled several couples who just plain didn’t get it and were/are headed for disaster. So what are my five top things husband and wife should agree on when it comes to money? [Read more…]

The 365 Project

Last year I was motivated by my friend Carla to start a “365 Project.” What is that? It’s taking a picture every day of the year – something you want to remember. I had already done that for the first part of Annie’s life, but I liked the challenge to keep it up. Now as 2011 comes to a close, I find that I have a picture of Annie for virtually each day of the year – and I’m tickled with myself! Annie loves to sit down at the computer and let me scroll through her pictures. I can tell it’s already important to her, but I know that as she grows it will be even more important – to her AND to Barry and me. [Read more…]

Annie’s 2011 Christmas Gifts

Last year I laid out for you how we approach Christmas with Annie. We’re not your typical family when it comes to Christmas. First off, we celebrate Advent with activities instead of gifts and we don’t “do Santa Claus.” Does Annie know about Santa? Sure….we read her fiction stories. This year we also read her the story of the real St. Nicholas and that’s a tradition that we hope to continue each year.

Every year Annie will get three gifts from us and her Christmas stocking filled with fun by useful goodies (insert link). The three gifts symbolize the three gifts that Christ received from the Three Wise Men – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I think most kids get WAY TOO MUCH STUFF for Christmas – stuff they don’t need. We try to cut down on the amount of “stuff” that finds its way into this house. So, here’s a look at what we got Annie this year for Christmas. When she’s older and can read, I’ll have to do these posts AFTER Christmas…..because if she’s anything like her Daddy, she’s REALLY NOSEY (I hope you’re reading this Barry). [Read more…]

Relationships and Money: Charitable Giving When We Don’t Agree

Since last week’s post about his money and her money was so popular (and controversial!), I thought I’d tackle another sensitive subject this week – relationships and tithing/charitable giving. I’ve gotten several questions regarding the tithe and how it applies to us as Christians today. Even though Stacy wrote on what the Bible teaches about tithing a while back, one thing I would like to address is the issue of what to do when your spouse disagrees about a course of action when it comes to giving.

First off, if couples agreed about everything when it came to how to spend their money, it would be SCARY. So let me start by saying it is perfectly okay to disagree about money. In fact, I would encourage you and your spouse to have some disagreements about things every now and then. It will help make sure you actually communicate with each other about what matters to you, and that is always a good thing! [Read more…]

These are a Few of my Favorite……Children’s Toys

Here’s something you might not know about me……I don’t like toys with batteries. Something about buying batteries for toys just makes me want to go insane. And most of those battery operated toys are loud and, dare I say – annoying. Lest you think I’m a hypocrite, Annie does have some toys with batteries – an Elmo remote control, Violet the talking dog (I think it’s a dog), and Limbo Elmo. Do you sense a theme around here? Anyway, a few toys I don’t mind – but Annie’s toys for the most part are NOT ELECTRONIC. I don’t want her to have electronic toys. I want her to embrace her creativity and play with simple things…..and guess what? She prefers toys WITHOUT all the pomp and circumstance. So, today I’ll share my top 5 favorite toys for Annie……keep in mind, she’s 2 ½.

Confession – She does have some toys that Barry and I just never put the batteries in. Uhhh, oops? 😉 [Read more…]

Marriage and Money: His Money and Her Money

It is common practice among married couples to keep separate checking/savings accounts and then separate out the bills in some agreed-upon manner and operate the household finances that way. They’ll divide things up where he pays the mortgage and his car payment, while she pays her car payment, the electricity and the groceries…or something like that. This concept has never made sense to me, but people will fight and argue until they’re blue in the face that this is the right way to operate a household budget. I believe it is a dangerous way to manage your household finances for many reasons. I wanted to use this post to talk about four reasons separate accounts are a bad idea: [Read more…]

Advent 2011

Last year I told y’all about our family Advent Christmas tradition. We LOVE this part of the season. It’s a time for us to enjoy each other without the craziness of the retail shopping world. I’m just not really into hitting up all the stores for great deals on battery operated toys and things I have to dust. That’s not how I roll. Instead, we spend time together and make memories for Annie. In lieu of putting gifts into the pockets of our Advent calendar, we put slips of paper with family activities on them. Barry didn’t use to be the type of person that enjoyed Christmas, but after starting this tradition, he is actually starting to soften up and enjoy the holidays…..it might also have something to do with the goodies I keep around the house. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Amen. [Read more…]

Our Thankful Box

It seems to me as the years pass by, that Thanksgiving is becoming the “forgotten holiday.” Stores put out fall decorations early, but before Halloween is over, they put Christmas stuff out and put “fall” items on clearance – as though the holiday is totally over. This saddens me. That’s one reason I came up with this Thanksgiving tradition of the Thankful Box.

People put their Christmas decorations out as soon as Halloween is over…but, I boycott. I won’t put out Christmas things until after Thanksgiving is over. It’s my way of “sticking it to the Man.” I never want Thanksgiving to be forgotten in the Myers house. By creating Thanksgiving traditions, I am making sure that the holiday has a proper place of importance. Because y’all – it’s important in this life to be thankful. [Read more…]

Powdered Butt Syndrome

There is a disease from which virtually every parent suffers. It is called “Powdered Butt Syndrome.” Simply put, Powdered Butt Syndrome is when your parents have the concept that since they powdered your butt, they don’t want your unsolicited advice about money. I know this is true for two reasons: 1) I have parents and I’ve tried it and 2) I’ve heard about it and seen it before from others. Very scientific of me coming to that conclusion, wasn’t it? I’m commonly asked what you can do if you see your parents misbehaving with money. You’ve probably tried to talk to them about money and offer your advice, and they roll their eyes or glaze over with the look that says, “I’m not listening to you; I still smell the baby powder I put on your butt 35 years ago.” Maybe it’s because you’re totally broke and just think you have all the answers. Or maybe…just maybe…you really do have the answers for your parents’ financial woes! This week, let’s talk about how to handle money with your parents. [Read more…]

Frugal Father’s Day Gifts

In the pattern of all things frugal at Humorous Homemaking, I decided to do a post for you all to give you some frugal ideas for Father’s Day. I looked at tons of websites to see what dads really want…..and are you ready for this? Most of the time, those things aren’t expensive. However, I did find out that most dads do not want a big honking orange tie that says BEST DAD on it. They really don’t….why do you think you find those on the clearance rack? Last year I got Barry a cheesy gift from Annie – a mug with photos on it. He’s still using it….he’s more graceful than I am, so he doesn’t break mugs on a regular basis. This year we decided that we weren’t going to spend money on gifts for each other until we paid off the house. That’s our gift to each other instead – extra house payments. But, here are some ideas for you that will cost little out of pocket for you.

This one popped up everywhere I looked. Dads want clean cars……those Cheerios on the floor that don’t bother you, really bother him. Really. He’s afraid he’ll go to an important meeting with a Cheerio plastered to his rear end. He would really love it if you and the kids would spend some time cleaning his car on the inside and out. This one should be pretty much free if you have car supplies at home – it only costs you time…..which he will really appreciate. Don’t put a flowerdy air freshener in there when you’re done – more like one in the scent of dirt…….or grease. [Read more…]