Welcome to another installment of the Centsible Life Family CFO interview series. This series will share a look behind the scenes at how other families manage their money with useful advice, funny stories, and hopefully we’ll all come out of it a bit more money savvy.
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Family CFO Interview Kimberly Coleman
Kimberly Coleman is the blogger behind Mom in the City. Kimberly left her career in research and finance to be a parenting writer. On her blog you’ll find the best tips for raising boys and family activities in the NYC area. Kimberly also is passionate about food and often shares recipes, and the best places to eat in NYC.
Q: Do you currently work or stay at home?
Work from home.
Q: Do you have kids? If so, how many and what are their ages?
Two boys, ages 7 and 10.
Q: Who is in charge of everyday spending in your home?
We stick to our planned budget (with some wiggle room).
Q: How do you track your finances?
A combination of Manilla.com (they are closing, so I will be switching over to mint.com) and Excel.
Q: How do you track your net worth?
Excel spreadsheet.
Q:Do you create a budget?
Yes.
Q: How often do you check your accounts?
Weekly.
Q: How often do you assess you spending and budget?
Weekly.
Q: What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to your finances?
I make the budget. My husband pays the bills.
Q: What has been your biggest success financially?
Children! Seriously…they incur a lot of unexpected expenses.
Q: Who is in charge of the managing bill paying in your home?
Being able to not acquire any debt for the last decade as a work at home mom with a teacher husband living in NYC!
Q: When you and your spouse disagree about a financial issues how do you come to a compromise?
We are both pretty logical, so we decide if the item is a want or need.
Q: What is the best advice you have for being a successful CFO of your family?
We keep in mind that money is not everything. It’s a means to an end. As such, we live within our means. At the times when our expenses exceeded our income, we both decreased our spending and increased our income by taking on extra work.
Notes from Kelly:
Kimberly and her husband have managed to create a partnership that extends to their finances. It’s clear they are both on the same page.
Division of labor
One thing that’s important to note is how they split up the shopping duties. While it may seem like that’s easy to do it’s not! They not only divide the bill paying, but she also shared that they divvy up the shopping, too.
Living on less
It’s impressive that Kimberly’s family has remained debt-free despite living in one of the most expensive cities in the world! I think the key is that they made the choice to live on their income or make up the difference if their expenses grew. Smart money moves no matter where you live.
What questions or advice do you have for Kimberly?
Many thanks to Kimberly for participating!
Kelly
Thanks for the questions and notes Kelly!