So, this past week, while having a discussion, Jerrill and I realized that we were missing something in our relationship, that we had when we got together- spontaneity! We talked about how things used to be, and how much we missed it. I think it’s a side effect of budgeting everything, since the 2 don’t usually go together. And, since budgeting is what we’re all about, we had to come up with a way to plan spontaneity! That, my friends, is a tall order!
We figured it out though, or, at least we figured out one possible solution. We now have 2 “his and hers” Spontaneity envelopes built into the budget. Now, I know that doesn’t sound spontaneous, but keep reading. We have set up a “her spontaneous envelope” and a “his spontaneous envelope” that will be funded from our respective “mad money” envelopes. This money will build up over time, and when the other person decides to do something spontaneous, they will have the funds to do it, and the recipient of the spontaneous gesture will not know when it’s happening! This might sound confusing, so I’ll give you an example.
Say I’m receiving an extra $10 a week in my “mad money” envelope (the money I can spend on whatever I want) that I can either spend or put into the “spontaneous for her” envelope. I start putting that extra $10 in the new envelope every week, and all the while, Jerrill is watching this money build up. After a month, he decides to take that $40 and buy me a big bunch of flowers, or a dinner out, or some nice chocolates etc. I’m surprised (there’s the spontaneity) because I didn’t know when it was going to happen, but it’s not going to hurt the budget because it was planned!
I don’t know if it will work, but we’ve started the process, and hopefully it will put a little spontaneity back into our (and possibly your) lives!
