Though we really need it, we are really bad at exercising. But we do like buying things! So we decided that since common sense wasn't enough motivation, we could pay ourselves for doing what we know we need to do. We've never had a "his" and "hers" money division, and don't like the idea, but we each want a couple of things more than the other person, and have a hard time justifying why the family should purchase the item(s).

For instance, I really want a new motherboard and cpu for our main computer. Our computer works for what we use it for, but there are certain software development things that I only do on my work computer (located at the school), as our computer slows to an unbearable crawl when I try to use a few of my favorite tools. So I'd like to spend about $400 upgrading our computer. Rachel wants to get some games for a wii.

We don't have a wii, and we can't reuse all of our old computer parts (like the graphics card and RAM). So we've decided that if we pay ourselves $5 per time we exercise (which goes in our savings account), when we get enough money for the things we want, the family will help pay for the accompanying parts (like the wii and RAM).

I would much rather play basketball as my exercise, but our apartment makes the drive time as long as I'd be able to play, I've just been jogging in the complex workout room. We've been at it for a couple of weeks, and I'm at about 10% of the way there, and Rachel is probably around 25%.

Anyway, I thought I'd let you all know the details since it's helped us go from exercising 1 time a week to 3-4 (hopefully it sticks), and you may find a similar method of motivation for yourself (if you lack discipline, as we do).