Money Matters

One of the questions to be decided upon entering marriage is who will pay the bills. I lucked out because I don’t think I’ve had to pay a single bill since getting married.

Sometimes I feel guilty when Kevin works hard at the office all day and then has to come home and sit in front of Microsoft Money all evening.

Last night was such an evening.

“Hey, listen. I’ll start paying the bills from now on,” I said.

He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

“Your life will be so stress-free if I could do that for you. You wouldn’t have to worry about a thing!”

Then we burst into laughter ‘cuz we both know that the LAST thing that would make Kevin stress-free is having ME in charge of our finances.

When we started dating he was horrified to learn how I “balanced” my checkbook. I would simply write down all of my financial transactions and, periodically, round-up the numbers to ensure that I always had some buffer room. You know, a little extra in my account, so I would always be okay.

I felt confident with this system. I always paid my bills on time and I never once bounced a check.

Kevin, however, was mortified that I didn’t ever know exactly, to the penny, how much money I had in my account.

Last night, when he was reminded of my old-system, he asked, “Weren’t you ever worried that you would get cheated by the bank?”

I told him that I never worried because I knew there were people out there like him who would keep the banks accountable – and mail me something if I needed to join a class action lawsuit.

So, it’s pretty safe for me to offer to pay the bills. He would never let me.