11.20.2009

$5 a day

I know there is a whole bunch of drama surrounding this couple and their family. And we have discussed it some on here also. But something was in the news yesterday that bothered me:

There was a headline in Yahoo and a byline in US magazine cover about poor Jon being limited by Kate to only being able to spend $5 a day on himself. Note that this comment came from his OLD boss when he was working, and this was before the 6 kids were even born and just afterwards, before they had the TV show set up. The former boss said that Kate limited Jon to $5 a day and got very angry if he called and asked for more.

I though....get Real. They had 2 kids and 6 more on the way. They were living on 1 income in a modest house in Central Pennsylvania. He was not in a job where he was taking clients out to work, he sat at a desk all day, mostly. So here is my question. Whats the big deal?

$5 a day is $150 a MONTH. And in a budget that is a lot of money a month. More than cable, more than phone, more than lots of things for most of us. I don't know for sure what he was expected to spend it on but I would imagine, lunch, incidentals etc. An occassional latte or trip to the snack machine. So, that seemed like a very reasonable or even a HIGH amount to budget for this. Jon used to pack his lunch (I saw him do it once, saw him carrying his lunch bag many times when he got home). So if he wanted a nice lunch or something, he could save a couple of days up and have $10-15 for lunch etc.

I know each of them has their faults. Kate may be totally overdoing a lot of things in a lot of other areas. But this one, it seemed really like the press was grasping at straws.

So I wondered, what do you BUDGET for your husbands to have in their wallet each day or week or month? "Walking around Money". What do you stick in your purse for quick access.

And if you respond, please lets keep the focus on the working class family budget for these things, not the money Jon and Kate plus 8 began making or are making now in the TV show, per episode, free things they get etc.

I mean when they were just a regular couple like many of us, with 2 kids and a mortgage and 1 job. Does $5 a day seem awful to you? High, Low? I just didnt get why it would rate a headline, who would make such a big deal about a budget. They have done a lot of things that arent good, but having a budget doesnt seem to be a bad thing! Kate was home with 2 kids, and not spending $5 on herself each day. So for Jon to have this seems like an extra luxury to me.

In comparison, we both work outside the home and my DH has a $80 a month budget, thats $20 a week he puts in his wallet for him to buy little things he wants. He can even not spend it, pack every lunch, get water or take drinks for the day and at the end of the month have $80 to spend on something he wants like books, DVDs, whatever he wants. I think that is reasonable for our family and spending. I might spend $5 a WEEK on stuff like this so I don't even budget it for myself.

So, weigh in. What do you spend in this area of your budgets, either for yourself or your spouse?