Paying off $5800 of debt - Was it a fluke?

Lat month (October) we paid off $5833 worth of debt, I have been wondering how much of that was a fluke or one time event.

We had big plans for October, all of which did not pan out. The biggest plan was I was taking over the bill paying. This darn near caused a war, my husband felt that I was blaming him and saying that he was not capable of managing a budget. I swear I never said that but I am pretty sure I was thinking it. We have been married well over a dozen years so I do have some ideal how he thinks and the last thing I want to do is make the situation any more tense or ugly. So I have been very careful not to lay blame and to place blame on myself. But still my husband felt the way he felt, personally I think it was /is his own gilt and I can say that here since he is not aware of this blog.

After determining that divorce is not what we want we have come to an unstable payment plan. My husband still pays the bills and I check credit card balances and the bank account on a regular bases (2x a month) to make sure we are on target. The good side of this plan is that he retains some of his manhood (I guess) and all the budget and bill pressure is not on me. The bad side of this plan is that we could pay the credit card debt off a lot faster if I did it but it would damage the relationship even more.

For last month we got paid back about $3000 on a loan we made to a family member, we gave it expecting to never be paid back so this was a great surprise. All of that went to paying off the remaining balance on the credit card we use on a regular basis. Now that card is paid in full and will be paid off each month. We also get points on the card so it is the only one we are using at this time. The other credit cards have been put up and others shredded. One was closed when the credit card company wanted to increase our interest rate not because we had done something but because the "economy was bad" From about 12% to over 20%, I declined and they closed the account. No problem , decided that credit rating hit I would take.

October was the first month that we did allowances, $150 each for the month. I would like to include more things in that allowance like hair cuts but marriage is give and take and the things that caused the major drain on the finances like eating out is included. We have bee cooking at home more, by we I mean me. This took some getting use to but is turning into a nice experience, cooking new things and trying different recipes.

We are also working on planning out our purchases. Still need a LOT of help in this area, but this is what checks and balances is for. I am hopeful at the very least if it doesn't work there will be lest debt to split up if we split up.