Hi <<First Name>>! Happy New Year a few days early! We're spending this weekend at a board gaming convention during the day and working nights (it's about 3am right now...). I'm pretty freaking happy overall with how 2012 worked out and hope for an even better 2013 (even if that is greedy, lol). I know it's been tough for at least a few of you though. You have my very best wishes for much better times ahead.
By the time you receive the next newsletter from me, I will have turned 30 years old. :-) I know the norm is to go nutty about that, but I am actually looking forward to what my thirties will bring. Fingers crossed...
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Ask Crystal
If you have any specific questions for me, just reply to this email and ask away! I highlight one or two questions every week. If you wish to be anonymous, please just let me know in your email.
Mel asked, "Do you have any creative suggestions for motivating a significant other to be more excited and involved in maintaining the family budget? I’m looking to go from ‘eh’ to ‘woohoo!’ without pulling teeth."
I asked Mr. BFS directly and he actually had a few suggestions. One was to bribe your significant other (aka, "if we hit the target, you get _____"). The second is like a form of joint bribery (aka, "every month we hit the target, we get x amount towards an awesome event/vacation/etc"). The last one he suggested was to make a game out of it. Go old school and get a huge poster board that you use a bright red marker to fill in the amount used so far with a big splat mark waiting at the end. Then there's a reward/date night/splurge/etc. for not going splat.
He also added that he had those ideas because he assumed you already tried sitting down and reasoning with your other about why it would be a good idea to stick to the budget. So these suggestions are for someone not already internally motivated. Good luck!
Thanks for being the best readers ever!
Crystal
newsletter@budgetinginthefunstuff.com
P.S. Dining Out Challenge is still for sale as well as 6 static insurance and tax sites. Please email me if you are interested!
