Money Matters

And it is Wednesday. Our money discussion went well last night. I’d created a budget for us that outlined how much we both contribute to the joint account, how much we each have in our separate accounts and how much we have left after we pay rent and utilities and all the other things that have a fixed monthly price that isn’t going to change.

RON: What about shoes?

ANDY:What *about* shoes?

RON: What if we want shoes?

ANDY: We can buy shoes. How many pairs do you want to buy a month?

RON: I don’t now. One each? Or underwears?

ANDY: Are these like $130 Nordstrom shoes or $50 gym shoes or BOGO..?

RON: I don’t know. We just have to have a place for shoes and clothing.

ANDY: Yes, that is under entertainment.

The great joy came when Ron found an error in my spreadsheet where I’d been calculating by pay period instead of month – meaning we actually had twice the amount available. This was after he’d started talking louder and louder and eventually forced me to come to the dining room table and write all this out by hand and go over it line by line. As he punched it into the iPhone.

RON: Do you see what you did now? You’re just confusing yourself with that thing. (the spreadsheet)

I’m not going to give it to him this easily.

ANDY: I understand where the error happened. I’m glad we found it together.

RON: You would have turned this in like this if this was a math test.

ANDY: That is why I wanted to walk through it with you.

RON: Do you see what you did wrong?

(a long pause – I make Ron beg for it)

ANDY: Yes, honey. I was wrong.

(he tries not to smile)

ANDY: Stop smiling! I’m wrong! Just add it to the list of things I’ve been wrong about. Then hold on to it tight until you’re ready to lash out at me.

I can never remember the list of things Ron’s been wrong about. Nearly all of this is in jest.

I imagine our kids’s math homework:

RON (on the phone to one of our kids): Okay honey. Yeah go ahead and send your math homework. I’ll look at it when I get into the hotel. Just fax it to the front desk. I’ll make corrections and send it back.

The good news is rent it the biggest chunk of money and we’re hoping to reduce that by a quarter if possible by the end of the year. And Ron’s union contracts get re-negotiated this year so by 2010 he should be making what he would have been making before 9/11.