Rather than arguing over household tasks, Jess Wright has come up with an alternative solution: she bills her husband if he’s not pulling his weight.
She first sent her husband, 33-year-old DJ, an invoice four years ago after getting increasingly frustrated with his inability to tidy up after himself.
Now, she makes up to $600 (£444.19) per month – mostly from charging him for things like leaving dirty clothes out.
At first, he was taken aback, but now he says that the billing system helps him to keep on top of his fair share of chores, even going as far as keeping ‘the peace’ in the household.
The pair, who have three children aged eight, four and two, generally split their chores evenly, assigning their tasks week by week depending on what they each have the capacity to take on.
When DJ falls short on chores around the home, Jess will tally it up in an Excel spreadsheet, issuing a bill for each neglected task depending on the level of annoyance it caused her.
Small things, like leaving the toothpaste out, will generally cost $5 (£3.70), while larger frustrations like forgetting to do the laundry can cost him between $10 (£7.40) and $20 (£14.81).
Another larger-scale offence includes, in Jess’s view, forgetting to swap out the car seats, which is typically issued with a penalty of either $25 (£18.51) or $50 (£37.02) depending on her mood.
At the end of the month, Jess uses the tallies to create a final invoice, which can range from anywhere between $30 (£22.21) and $600 (£444.19). And while it might sound controversial, they both feel happier with the system in place.
Jess’ sample invoice
Small annoyance – $5 (£3.70): Toothpaste left out, shirt left out
Moderate annoyance – $10 (£7.40) – $20 (£14.81): Dishes left out, rubbish not taken out
Major offence – $25 (£18.51) – $30 (£22.21): Not switching car seats.
‘I’m being compensated for it [picking up the chore]. There is less resentment,’ Jess, who is a mental health counsellor from Atlanta, Georgia, shares.
DJ, an army veteran, adds that while their method might sound ‘unorthodox,’ ultimately, they ‘wanted to keep the peace.’
He says: ‘I like the system. She’s not yelling. I just pay it and that’s it.’
After he’s received his monthly invoice, he pays it to Jess from his separate account – and she tends to either spend the money on herself or add it to her savings.
‘Sometimes I use it for a TJ Maxx trip – I treat myself,’ she shares.
When the couple first met eight years ago, they initially didn’t realise that they had differences in their household habits. DJ instantly knew that Jess was ‘neat,’ but she ‘didn’t find out that he wasn’t’ until they were stationed out in Texas together.
‘I kept having all these conversations – why have you left your glass out or your shirt out? He’s very forgetful,’ she reflects.
When they started to have children, the number of chores on their list skyrocketed – and Jess found herself bottling up more and more frustration.
And so, out of the blue, she decided one day that she’d start tallying it up with a bill.
‘I was putting in more energy to talk to him about it. Once you start adding kids, there is a lot more to talk about than these petty conversations,’ she says.
‘I decided to pull on his strengths – money motivation.’
In DJ’s experience, the system has been thoroughly helpful, as ultimately, he doesn’t want to be shelling out so much cash for his ‘mishaps.’
‘It definitely does work. It’s not that I never do the chores,’ he explains.
‘I never do it on purpose. It’s one of my weaknesses – I’m not very tidy.
‘Some months I do better. It’s helped to have money attached to it.’
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