DH and I are at odds on money personalities...
I love to save up for big purchases (like a house or a vacation) and have a good down payment; he would prefer to do a 100% finance on big purchases and use whatever cash and credit is on hand for whatever he wants to buy. I HATE having credit card debt, but he doesn't seem to care.
The best thing to do is have the money discussion in the late dating/engagement phase. If I had known some things about his spending habits BEFORE we got married I think I would have waited for him to mature a little. If it's too late for the discussion, just roll with it as best you can. Snowflake little bits of money and change towards debt or savings as the chances of large amounts ever making it there are unlikely. Some of the big things I've noticed
1) Have a BIG overall goal, DH only got on board with saving and not spending as much when I told him he could get a new shiny truck in a few years. ( Kinda like a small child).
2) RECEIPTS. I can't say how many times we've overdrafted our account because I thought we had money for something we needed but DH went out and blew $50+ on something he wanted and forgot to tell me. So, keep and ask DH to give you (or give to DH if you're the spender) ALL the receipts even for gas.
3) Try and work some wiggle room/fun money into the budget. I know it's not feasible for everyone, but it makes things easier in the long run.
Well, off to sort through a mountain of receipts and balance the checkbook. Laters :)
