Do you just have one joint checking account do you have your own separate accounts, I'm thinking of having what about three accounts, one mine, one his, and one for the household bills? We both work now so we would have our own accounts and then each deposit a percentage into the household account that is ONLy for household shared expenses. I would love to hear from other couples families, what their financial arrangements are and how it works for them and their spouses.
My mother always told me, no matter how happily married you are, a woman should always have some money in her own name, and a good credit history, too. You never know.
We have one account. We don't hide things this way. And yes, the Dave Ramsay way is our way also. We just started his books 2 weeks ago but been pounding the debt hard.
It's been wisely said that when you get married--it's a joint venture, so the money should be pooled. Do you know about Dave Ramsay? Very good financial advice and you can buy O. of his books used. Great advice for managing money. Good luck!
If I were ever to remarry, I would have 3 and keep my money seperate. It makes it easier just in case divorce or death happens. Before I had money, I would insist on one account since we had so little.
No matter what you choose, make sure each of you has x dollars per month to spend on whatever you want without criticism. I do NOT believe in paying for tv and he doesn't believe in my crafts.
Everything is joint. We view everything we have as OURS, and felt it was important to arrange our accounts to reflect that. When we got married, we consolidated some accounts and added each other onto everything. Even though he's the primary breadwinner right now, the money is no more his than mine and all financial decisions are made jointly (via a budget that we created together). That doesn't mean that we can't have "fun money" to spend on whatever we want, but that money is accounted for in our budget -- it's not just like he can do whatever he wants with the balance because he earned it.
Even though I'm not currently working, it is important for me to have money in my name and a credit history, so we have our own credit cards and loans/titles will be in both of our names.
We each have a checking account and one joint account. I couldn't say that it works well, but that is because we don't quite make enough anyway (my husband is part-time while he finishes school), but the problems we were having were solved by having the personal accounts.
My husband's hobby is media--he loves to research music and buy CDs and DVDs. Actually we both love films, but I can wait on buying them. It got ridiculous with him either calling me all the time asking if he could afford to get something (I pay bills and balance the check book) and then it always made me feel controlling and negative. It was also a problem if he found too many "good deals" and it interfered with other expenses. We agreed on a fixed direct deposit amount that he can do whatever he wants with--buy music, go out for drinks with a friend, buy tickets to a show, etc. I don't really use "my" account most of the time, but it has been really nice for birthdays and Christmases--we can each transfer our agreed-upon amount to our own accounts so the other doesn't see where transactions are made for gifts. It also, again, gives him the flexibility to have personal money that he doesn't have to stress over because it is in a separate account. Our joint account is for bills, rent, groceries, gas, child care, medical, etc. Pretty much everything else. I have considered having yet another account just for bills just so that the money is set aside immediately, but I don't think I could handle balancing another checkbook. :)
I do think it is important for both husbands and wives to have personal or discretionary funds so that there is no criticism and each can spend money that does not affect the rest of the family budget.
Depends on you and your spouse. Money can be a reason to disagree and fight.......so it depends on works best for your personality types.
We share it all, but we think alike. We don't give each other a hard time about expenditures and we both stay in reason. However, if one of you is into "control," then separate might work better. Work out your budget, deposit what you both agree is fair into each account and don't pay attention to what the other one is doing.
We have one account! We are married so there is no my money, his money. Look into Dave Ramsey! He has awesome ways to do things and he has a budget that allows for each of you to have your own blow money, but it is budgeted for. It is awesome because on the blow money it is no questions asked!
I have one account for myself and a joint account with my husband. Direct deposits goes into my account and then I transfer what I think my husband needs into his ;)
Add on:
I do this because I was divorced once and went through much pain getting myself back on track financially. Women do need to protect themselves. If for some reason (back child support, IRS problems) your husband has some skeletons they can freeze your bank account (happened to me), so I personally feel more comfortable having an account in my sole possession. It makes things less complicated if something crazy were to happen.
We have one account, and keep a monthly budget broken down into three categories - groceries, "needed" and "extra." That way we keep track of what we are spending. He does the bill-paying, because he's the financially minded one.
The most important thing is that we pretty much agree on everything we spend our money on and NEVER make big purchases (which, to us, is pretty much anything over $75) without checking with the other person. I think if you do that, it really doesn't matter where you "keep" your money, because you both know what's going on with it. Good luck.
What works for us is to have one account that everything starts out in then we each get our equal "allowance" weekly transferred to our separate accounts. That allowance is used for all personal expenses we don't already have budgeted in. It works pretty well for us.
i know several couples that have FOUR accounts - each have their own checking and savings. They each have their own delgated bills to pay. In our family, i deal with paying the bills for the most part, so it has always been easier and made us feel more united in the financial aspect to share our accounts - we have one checking and one savings. We did this when we had equal incomes, and still now that i only work very part time and he is full time. Whats mine is his and whats his is mine, that's how we see it in our family. But it depends on you relationship, whatever works for you!
Only one checking account and one savings account. All of our money goes into the checking. I pay all the bills, move some into savings, and then we agree on how to spend the rest. We have our ups and downs, but I want everything in the open. I am a saver, he is a spender. He brings in much more then me, but I tend to be the better bill payer and know how to set limits. I have asked him to take over, but he prefers I handle it.
We have seperate checking accounts that our paychecks go into. They are ours alone. We pay split the bills for the most part, unless one of us needs help a particular month. I tend to pay for the extra's for my son...shopping, activities, gifts, etc. He pays for food, our entertainment. We have a savings account for emergencies or big ticket items if need be. Generally any extra money we get goes into savings...ie: tax returns. Works for us. I think its just a carry over of the days before we were married but living together...I work full time so I refuse to give up my own account. : )
we each have a checking account and 1 savings acct. My MIL keeps saying it's crazy not to have just 1 acct, but my grandma and grandpa still have separate accounts and it's worked for them. My husband pays most of the bills (he makes most of the money) and I pay my student loan, the car bill, and the daycare.
We have one account. I think it is good for keeping the understanding of the family unit as one, instead of mine, mine and ours. Perhaps have three accounts, but deposit work money in the 'ours' and agree on a certain amount to be debited in each of your accounts for 'mine' - the discretionary income.
We have a jt checking, hubby has a savings, and I have a savings. I pay all the bills. Each month I write him a check from our jt acct equal to the paycheck from one of his two jobs. He deposits that check into his savings. Whatever I don't need each month to pay the bills with each month gets transferred into my savings. Gives me a great incentive each month to watch my spending!
I agree with Patty. My husband liked to question every little charge on the joint account & it made me crazy!! So I keep my own account now & use for all personal stuff. Less fighting. Plus I have my own savings he can't access. I think it's VERY important to have your own nest egg set aside; no matter how much you love & trust your husband. You'd be shocked how many women i've known who find out the hard way & have NO money to call their own because their husband walked out on them. Happened to my mil.
For joint: use for all bills & stuff related to the kids, house, etc. We try to keep a budget too. Makes for smoother banking & relations.
My husband and I are married for 20 years. We have separate accounts, have always kept our finances separate. We each have things that we are financially responsible for within the household and famiily, and each pay those things separately. We both manage money differently so this arrangement works for us
We both have our own accounts. My husband is very good about paying bills and he likes to send more then the what they are asking for. Which I think is great, but if we have combined accounts he will see that there is more money and I won't have enough to pay my bills. So since we have been married we have had seperate accounts. It works very well this way. Ppl think that we are crazy for having seperate accounts but I don't care what ppl think. This way there are no problems with money and everything is being taken care of. If that is what you want to do then go for it. Good Luck!
Three accounts over here. I had mine YEARS before we got married. Then we opened a joint. A few years later, he wanted some money to spend of his own w/out taking from the joint account. We deposit both checks into the joint account and then whatever is left over after the bills are paid, we keep 10% of the balance in the account, then we split the difference and transfer to both accounts. We do alot of online banking, so it's just a few clicks and all the work is done. No biggie.
I am highly against separate accounts. Once you are married, everything is legally both of yours and your description sounds too much like roommates with their own lives that each pool their money to pay the rent and utilities.
However, to each his own. Do what works for you that causes the most peace and financial security.
