Differing Financial Opinions

My husband and I agreed to have a budget meeting tomorrow evening. This is a big commitment for both of us because neither of us likes to talk with each other about financial decisions, what to do with our money, how to spend it, how to save it, etc. We primarily don't like to talk about it because-its exhausting and, we don't agree.

We have two, extremely different financial styles and they collide at each conversation. Because of this neither of us handle the finances regularly, I pay the bills when due, or when past due or shut off, he ignores the finances completely.

In my mind, my husbands financial style is think about the short term. My style is to think about the long term. I prefer to feel the pain now for the payoff later.

One example that we can't agree on. . . . I drive a 2004 Expedition that I pay $635 per month on through my corporation, there is a balance due of $10,000. We also have a 1999 Windstar that has 150,000+ miles on it.

Because of my business, I need a large car for when materials need to be transported, but I do not have to drive a large auto all the time. We want to purchase a smaller auto without taking out a loan that I can drive on a regular basis and keep one of the cars for our second, less driven car.

Here's where the disagreements begin. . . . my husband wants us to sell the Expedition so that we can eliminate the $635 monthly payment. I want to sell the Windstar because its the oldest car and will last the shortest amount of time, and, because I've already invested $24,000 in the auto and I don't want to walk away from that investment.

Since I purchased it at the end of 2004, if I was to sell this car now, it would cost me over $8,000 a year to have driven the Expedition! If I keep it for a total of 10 years, it would cost me $3,400 per year and last until 2014.

If I sell the Expedition (husbands plan), I could pay off the $10,000 balance and make approximately $1,000. The Windstar would still be the secondary auto, because its too large to be a gas saver, and it will last approximately 2 more years, or 2009.

For him, the relief of eliminating the monthly payment of $635 is more important than anything. For me, having a reliable, long lasting auto in the end is most important.

In the meantime, we'll continue to build up a fund for this smaller car. Fortunately, this decision does not need to be made immediately.

For this budgetary meeting tomorrow evening, we've put together a fairly short agenda that will help my husband be brought up to speed on what's happening financially, and a couple of areas of cost savings/reductions that we need to discuss.