What Have You Done With My Husband...

I mentioned yesterday that the hubby has added a new income stream to our little home, but today I thought I was going to pass out.

In an effort to keep him "in the loop" on our finances I was in our home office preparing the monthly report as I had described in an earlier post. After finding out what I was working on he actually decided he wanted to talk about the issue. And I mean actually listen to what I had to say!

The final verdict:

a.) He agreed there was a problem that we needed to fix and agreed to cut out all unnecessary purchases until we had things under control.

b.) We talked about the consolidation loan concept and why I don't really want one right now, and especially why I DO NOT want to add it to our home equity. And he listened!!! However, he did remind me that compared to ourselves a year or so ago, we have actually been getting better with the frivolous spending. A large portion of our debt would likely be gone if we were not paying for landscaping and the final additions (ie. driveway) to our newer home. Considering that he does have a point, we compromised to get a consolidation loan, but only for the amount of the home renovation/completion costs. This will not cover all of our debt, but we can bring our receipts and records to the bank to back up the amount (as opposed to just consumer spending), it will be a more reasonable amount so we are more likely to get approved, and all the good stuff like a lower interest rate. He agreed that everything else was our own misdoings and we will need to deal with that on our own, but the loan should make the whole project just a little more manageable. Besides, if they say no we are in no worse position than we are now. Oh yeah and he agreed - NO HOME EQUITY LOAN!!!

c.) To top it all off, he is going to go to the bank to handle the loan for us! I know we are in this together, but this is a huge step for him. He will singlehandedly need to sit with our banker and own up to our debts and make a plan. Of course, I get final veto, but it means that he is being responsible for our debt and not just putting the problem on me to fix. I am really impressed about this. My little man is growing up!!!!!! Besides, if I don't have to take time off work to do this, my boss will surely be pleased.

d.) We got to talking about our goals A.D. (after debt). We had always chirped about what we want before, but never in a "I would like to put a coupld hundred away every month to do X."

I am really not sure what has gotten into him, and I know it may fade as quickly as it came, but I will take what I can get as long as I can. If he has finally decided to work with me on this, instead of just letting things happen, we may have a shot at our end of August 2011 goal afterall.