The Secret to a Long Happy Marriage?

Last night I was laying in bed reading yet another trashy romance novel, trying to stay awake and wait on The Man to come to bed. Finally, I went downstairs to check and see what was taking him so long. He'd been waiting on a part for his truck so he could put the manifold back together, so that is where we was. In the garage with the heaters blaring, music making the windows in the garage pump to the beat with his torque wrench. God it was hot.......anyway,



I did the whole whiny thing, I can't sleep till you come to bed and I'm exhausted, hurry up. When he looks up at me with a huge smile on his face, ignoring my whine, he goes,



"I just saved us alot of money"



True enough and he didn't even switch to Geico. No, the rebuild of his fuel injectors was quoted at 1300 dollars. Damn, but by doing it himself with a little help from his friend, we spent a grand total of 102 dollars.



So he was a happy duck.



But as I was drifting off to sleep I wondered, could that be what makes our marriage work?



I know couples who fight like naked, oiled up gladiators over money. But The Man and me, we made a deal before our wedding that we would never fight about money. It wasn't easy and there were times that we had to stop mid-fight and walk away, but we've never fought over money. We budget, I say yes you can buy it or no you can't, here is why. If I show him a budget and go, we have the money, can I get this? And he says no, I don't get it........I may or may not whine until he gives in later but I follow the unspoken rule.....You back each other's play.



So here I am going yeah, saving money makes our marriage happy.............



Like how he is so handy and saves us all this money rebuilding his truck constantly. Even when it runs just fine and I can't tell the difference (starting to think this is a hobby of his....) it's okay cause he saved us money.



Or how our work schedules work out pretty darn well so we save money by not needing full time after school care for the girls.



Or how I am such a good shopper that I can go shop for work clothes or kid clothes and come home with a receipt that says on the bottom, you've saved 247.25 (I swear, I spent like 60)

Or how I can find the perfect pair of heels for work on the clearance rack 75% off, the one diamond in the rough

Maybe I should point out that I am notorious for "arguing" my way into discounts too, maybe I shouldn't though cause that is not really a good quality........hee hee

So in the end, I'm laying there as these thoughts build and I turned over and whispered to him "We're so happy together cause we always save money" he popped right back with "okay, so there are these wheels that I want for my truck..........."

Sigh.........lucky me, he is getting them for a GREAT deal, so he's saving me money.

Posted in: being the boss,family smamily,The Man