Monday, November 1, 2010

Role Reversal

Way back when Brett and I got engaged, I remember some of the older people in my life telling me that the longer they stayed married, the more they became like their spouse. Frankly, I thought they all were crazy given the fact that Brett was a very serious, calculated, not very clean, frugal (and I MEAN frugal!) accountant and I was, of course, very fun loving, tidy, easy going and FAR from frugal.

Over the years, we have certainly both adjusted our lifestyles to make our family the best it can be. Brett has come leaps and bounds in the cleaning department and actually beats me to the laundry punch every now and then. And I have, let's say, majorly adjusted my spending habits. We have learned to compromise in all aspects of our lives in order to make our relationship as argument free as possible.

All the while, however, we still have certain issues that always bring up an argument. Most notable, of course is the money issue. If it were up to Brett, I'm pretty sure every dime beyond that spent on groceries, mortgage and bills would go directly to savings. I, on the other hand am very 'instantly gratified' and I enjoy shopping, spending money and going out to dinner. I tend to have the mentality that everything will work itself out no matter what we have in the bank. We are both opposite ends of the spectrum which, apparently, is why we work.

Lately, however, I have been very anxious about putting money away. We have so many things we want to do, and I am trying to focus more long-term than short-term these days. One would think Brett would revel in my newfound love of saving, but shockingly, I think I have trained him 'too well' to start spending a little more.

This weekend, my computer seemed to have crashed beyond repair. While I was okay with going a few months without a computer, Brett immediately jumped on his laptop and started researching which computer we'd purchase-- this week!! What?? He was ready to drop over $1000 right away, and actually expressed that he was a bit disappointed when I called him to tell him I had fixed the issue this morning. At first I thought to myself, "what is wrong with him?" only to quickly shift my thinking to "what is wrong with me?" The pre-marriage Shannon would have tried to break my computer so that I would be granted permission to buy the latest and greatest. Hmmm. Strange how those friends of my mom's were right. I guess you do become more like your spouse after a while. I guess that's good news for Brett (and the bank account!)

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