Women and the Finances, Why We Need to Take an Active Role

Ladies…how many of you take an active role in the finances in your house?  I’d love to say I do, but I don’t.  I used to.  I used to be the one that paid our bills, made sure we had the money for this and that…but…when I was pregnant with my son, I started mailing the bills out, but leaving the checks (written, mind you) in the checkbook.  Yes…yes I did that.  Not once, but three times. THREE TIMES.  So of course, my husband took things over and that was the last I took part in our finances.  That was nine and a half years ago.

**This post is brought to you by Genworth on behalf of Brandfluential.  All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

However, that needs to change.  Dan travels almost every week in a month.  I need to be apart of our finances because the likelihood of something happening that I would need to take care of, is very high.  When he’s out of town working, he’s working from the moment he wakes up until well after the sun has gone down.  It’s difficult for someone to take care of something if they don’t know what is going on with the finances.  I just finished reading, Women and Money:  Why You Need to Take Control Now and I could really relate.

The article states four financial barriers that prevent women from taking control of the finances.  They are:

1. We Lack Confidence…pretty much.  I mean shoot, I sent bills WITHOUT the check!
2. We Sweat the Small Stuff…I think that book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, was written just for me!
3. We’re Waiting for Someone Else to Fix the Problem…Guilty as charged!
4. We’re Focused on Goals, Not Numbers…case in point, my goal is to save up enough money for a Mac laptop.

I think, in my case, because my husband travels so much, I need to be on top of our finances and have a handle on what’s going on.  What if something, God forbid, were to happen to him?  I wouldn’t have the slightest idea what to do…he has all the passwords, etc.  We’ve started putting together a Family Binder so I have all of the information in one place.  Something like this is a good idea, not only in the instance that one spouse may pass away, but also in other emergencies, like a house fire.  For more information about money management, visit the Genworth website.

Who takes care of the finances in your home?  And please tell me someone else mailed bills WITHOUT the check too?!?