Yours, mine and ours
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- May
- 22
Do you have a secret little stash of money that your spouse doesn’t know about?
How about a credit card in your own name?
If you’re a middle-aged married woman, it’s especially important to make sure you have credit in your own name. But what about opening a secret bank account?
A few months ago, I did just that. I wanted to tuck away a little cash and save for things I really wanted. (Here’s the pathetic part: my wish list includes fixing the shower door, painting the house, ripping up the old rugs and putting in a new garage door.)
The thing is, these things are important to me, and I liked the idea of saving up to do what I wanted — not what anybody else wanted. I mean did anyone consult me before a giant-screen TV showed up in our house?
Anyway, I felt guilty last night about the secret bank account, so I told him. And then I regretted it. I am so bad at keeping secrets!
Do you and your spouse account to each other about every penny? Do you ever tuck away a little money for yourself?
This entry was posted
on Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 at 5:08 pm by Linda Lombroso.
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Baby boomer Linda Lombroso was born in Queens and grew up in Port Washington. She began her journalism career at New York Magazine and Rolling Stone, but left to pursue a master's degree in elementary education. Shortly afterward, she returned to magazines as an editor at US magazine, but again left the field, this time for the birth of her first child. Linda and her family moved from Manhattan to New Rochelle in 1988. After spending 10 years as a stay-at-home mother, she joined The Journal News as a police reporter in 1997. She's been a Life & Style writer since 2000. This is the only year her three children are teenagers at the same time, which means she undergoes a daily critique of hair, makeup and wardrobe. Her parents still live in Port Washington Ń and they like everything she wears.
I am married a long time. When we were first married, we had joint everything, but I always kept a little account for myself. Before I was married, my cousin’s husband, cheated on her, wiped out their savings account and left. That taught me a lesson to trust no one. They seemed to be in love. You never know. Women need to have some of their own. I love my husband, but I never want to be a stupid woman and assume he would never leave me and take the cash.
Financially, we are not wealthy, so it was never a big account. But I always have something of my own. Be smart and get over the guilt..