A Money Buddy

Today is my first full day in Florida with my family and my plan involves a lot of sitting on the beach. Aaaaaah. Andy will be in next Wednesday, but for the first week I'm with my family. Somehow my mom and I planned a side trip to DC this weekend to visit more family. It will be packed so I'm going to have some guest posters.

But for now it's me!

On Saturday, Andy and I took an excursion out to Bainbridge Island. We had intentions of going to the Bloedel Reserve, but got there only to discover it was $13 per person to get in. Having spent $40 on the round trip ferry ticket, we passed in favor of finding a free state park. We ended up at Fay Bainbridge State Park and ate our picnic lunch and went for a walk on the beach.

A and I used to take weekly walks where we could talk in hefty detail about all the stuff going on with us and our relationship. Sometimes this was as simple as "Everything's great, let's talk about politics" to "I want to find spirituality". By having these talks in public and while we were out on a walk, all the pressure of home and work was gone and we just had each other to focus on. This is a great way to talk about money and how we often deal with more pensing money issues. It was on one of these walks that we decided to start saving for a down payment on a house. (Though at the time one of us thought it would be used more as a vacation fund. I honestly cannot remember who. I think I might have couched it as a vacation fund with intentions of making it a house fund. That sounds like me.)

This trek we talked about a lot of stuff since we haven't had one in a while, but one thing we talked about was our desire to be healthier. We both want to eat as best we can and get some exercise and, in doing so, drop a few pounds. I told him that I have been trying to do this for years, but he is my biggest baked good fan and my froyo sidekick, so it makes it hard sometimes to be healthy with him around.

So we decided to be buddies in our effort to lose weight and be healthier. We both have goals that we should achieve at roughly the same time if he loses half a pound a week and I lose a pound a week.

I think you know where I'm going with this.

Just like with weight loss, a money buddy can be your best support system when it comes to your finances. If you are in a couple, ideally it is your partner. Couples with financial cross-purposes make up 85% of those divorced in 2011, so your partner and you should be on the same page if only for the sake of your relationship.

But sometimes if your finances are different or if you're single, a money buddy is a close friend. Ideally, someone you can divulge a lot of information too and still feel comfortable since you want to share all your successes and pitfalls with them.

For instance, my main money buddy is Andy, but my other money buddy is my best friend. He has a goal of paying off his credit card debt so whenever he has paid off a chunk or is about to get an influx of cash, he calls me, I listen to him, encourage him and remind him what his goal is so he can, little by little, chip at the debt.

If your goal is to save money, your money buddy is someone to call when you feel a large purchase coming on or are standing in line at a store with a new thing you don't really need. Call your money buddy during this time. Think of these as money binge moments. The new thing is like the tray of cupcakes looking at you and you need some help walking away. Money Buddy to the rescue!

Do you have a money buddy? Do you want a money buddy? I'd love to hear if any of you use this system (consciously or subconsciously) and if you think it works.