My husband is the money guy in our relationship. Me? I’m way too much of a hippie to be bothered with things like the bottom line. When you’re married with a child, though, that flower child attitude about finances isn’t going to work. Before we got married, we sat down and really hashed out our financial situation. Terrence was incredibly helpful in helping me come up with a monthly budget, even creating a spreadsheet to help me track all of my bills. He did the same thing when we were planning our wedding, and just recently made one for my small business. The man loves numbers. And spreadsheets. He LOVES spreadsheets.
It’s not that I can’t budget, I just have some sort of block when it comes to math. I remember being in Algebra in high school feeling completely lost. I just don’t work well with abstract and hypotheticals. Some folks might argue that numbers are the only things that aren’t abstract. One plus one equals two, period. Yeah, but the question that I’m asking is why? Like, why does it add up to two? Who decided that one plus one equals two, and why are we so quick to just accept that? Or think about the pseudo math problem that people use when they’re being all cutesy with their “we’re pregnant” announcements. You know the ones, “And baby makes three!” What if you’re having twins? Then baby would make 4, right? So, one plus one COULD equal two, but it depends on the variable.
Oh, and don’t EVEN get me started on word problems!
My husband probably thinks I’m nuts.
Fortunately, Terrence didn’t marry me for my mathematical skills. I can’t say the same. Ha! Really, he and I complement each other and cover each other’s deficiencies. Which basically means I’m a way better cook than he is (even if his savings account has more money in it than mine!)
This post was inspired by The Goddess of Small Victories by Yannick Grannec, a novel about brilliant mathematician Kurt Gödel as told from his ex-cabaret dancer wife’s perspective. Join From Left to Write on October 16th as we discuss The Goddess of Small Victories. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.
I like math, but I hate coming up with budgets! And following them. I guess I’m not a big rule follower. I’m glad that you both have strengths that compliment each other.