Turns out my spouse isn't interested in using a preloaded card for his incidental spending, so I asked him to start thinking about ways he can be more aware of his spending. He is creeping closer and closer to retirement, and we truly cannot afford to continue to spend the way we have been. Not just me, but him, as well. He's been in a pretty good place in his surgery recovery, so it was a positive chat. I will be doing the preloaded card thing (I'm going to see if any of the banking institutions we use offer one, because if you can get one through your bank, the fees are usually lower -- this was one of the avenues my research took me through yesterday), but it's not my place to push the idea on my husband.

If he doesn't find a way to track his spending, however, I might end up handing the bills and budget over to him. Paying bills is stressful when you only know half of the family's spending trends; budgeting is impossible. And this is why I haven't really budgeted over the years. I just take care of the accounts payable to the best of my ability. I'm moving forward with the information I have, and taking charge (ha! no pun intended!) of my own spending.