
In Russia up to nowadays the most common family type is the one in which wife is the family Treasurer; husband will give her the money he earns and... this is the limit to his authority over money matters. It is not vital in a Russian family, who cooks, cleans and does the washing and who earns the money. Each tries to meet the requirements of a specific situation. Spouses make roughly equal contribution to the family budget. The attitudes of modern russian women towards money vary. Some follow the principle 'don't put off till tomorrow what you can spend today', others plan, how much and for what purpose to spend in minute details. The disconcerting Russian life makes the woman plan thoroughly the family budget: the wages day used to be fixed and this allowed it to plan 'from the one wage to the next one', so to say; nowadays nobody feels confident about the day to come, and
Russian women have learnt to save for a rainy day.
And still is there a woman who hasn't ever been tempted to buy a thing that caught her eye and spent more than a half of the family budget? russian women are also subject to such 'fits'. Though lately russian women lose their head and spend money yielding to an occasional temptation considerably less often.
If the financial well-being of the
Russian woman improves, she doesn't turn into a spendthrift. She will enjoy the feeling of confidence that money ensures, and may buy some trifle for herself to prove that she is free to spend. Though practical experience shows that the women having so called 'spare money' turn to be more economical and careful in their spending than their less wealthy female friends. If you marry a decent russian woman, you won't have to beware the 'sudden' loss of your money. She won't do any major purchases without consulting with you first: traditionally Russians discuss such matters at a 'family council'.
In essence wisdom and shrewdness which is so characteristic of the russian woman allowed her to understand that chronic lack of money results in family crises and destruction of man's social status, but that huge income isn't a universal panacea either; on the contrary, in is accompanied by new troubles.