Our money merge plans

[MrsTrussell2B]

Thanks ladies! your stories/suggestions really have me thinking. I think we will do a hybrid of a few of these suggestions. I definitely want to keep some of my money because i like independence. And I also am not willing to split his child support I would definitely have a problem with that.

[Spazz]

Our's is similar to Morgan's.

We have a joint checking account that we both contribute to for all of our joint bills - mortgage, cars, phones, utilities, etc. Mike puts twice as much as I do b/c he makes a lot more than I do. I manage this account and pay all of our bills each month.

We both still have our own personal checking, saving, and investment accounts. Whatever is leftover in our own checking accounts after we contribute to our savings and our investments is our own "fun money". We also use our own checking accounts for going out to eat, groceries, gas, etc. It works well for us.

[Pisces]

We also do $200 per month each for fun money. It's actually pretty tight, but we are trying to save for a house and pay off my student loan, so we are putting a huge portion of our paychecks into savings/debt repayment for the next year. We decided to evaluate our goals every year, and adjust our fun money accordingly.

 

I know once we have kids we will have to budget for each of their expenses, and right now we share a car so I'm sure we'll end up with a second.

 

Budgeting works for us, but definitely doesn't for others. It's been the natural transition for us because up until this year I have been a student and we've HAD to budget in order to make sure my student loan lasts us. So we decided to try to keep living as best we could as if our situation hadn't changed.

 

I should add that occasionally we go outside the budget and splurge on something together, but neither of us really like to shop or buy things so it hasn't been difficult.

[JODEY]

I think what ever works best for individuals.... personally my H2B and I aren't that well organised, we keep it simple.... we don't have separate bank accounts just one joint account that everything goes in and out of. H2B is lucky enugh to earns quite a bit more than me, I earn enough so that I pay half of all the house hold bills but his money pays for going out, holidays, clothes ect... and he has never seen it like I don't pay my way, We put aside a surtain amount for savings ( joint again ) and take out spending money each week as and when. I don't know if its because we have been going out a long time but we don't feel the need to wright everything down - whos paying for what, everything gets paid and we both check the bank statments at the end of the month, for us it comes down to trust and as we are a couple what we earn is ours, like I say everyone is different and its interesting to learn what works for others, maybe I should take a leaf out of your girlies books lol....

[SunBride]

we just have a joint account and we don't each have our own "spending money" budget. Sometimes my FH thinks we should, because I get on his case about eating out a lot and buying expensive computer games. In reality, I spent more than him but it's on house stuff and things like that that aren't only for me. I rarely spend money on fun stuff just for myself (except for clothes, and even then, I spend about as much on my clothes as I spend buying his - he hates to shop so I buy all his).

 

I personally don't like the idea of having each our own "do whatever you want" budget. I'd rather work on a case by case basis. When we do small purchases we don't check with eachother, but when we do large ones (like over 100$) then we might run it by the other person first to see if they think it's a good idea.

 

Although my husband says he wants his own spending budget so that I'm not "checking up" on his spending, I remind him that it would have taken him a while to save up for his 1500$ computer or the 600$ he spent on the Wii and accesorries. I personally think this works better because we don't save up for special purchases, as long as we both agree it's worthwhile we just get it right away. Then again, we have more money than we need for our current lifestyle (just dumping it all on the mortgage). If you are on a really tight budget then I can see how each person having an individual personally spending fund would be good.

[monicaswave]

Morgan,

 

I think your plan is great! Thank you so much for sharing. I was getting ready to start a thread asking you ladies how you merged your money. We have been talking about merging our bank accounts but haven't really been able to get to all the details.

 

From what we discussed our plan is very similar to yours. One joint account with each of us our own personal account. At first we talked about doing an equal percentage contribution to the joint account but I was starting to think it may not be the best arrangement. He makes waaay more money than me so I would have very little spending money while he would have tons. Besides I figured with an equal percentage deal he may end up with more "fun" money than he may need and that money could probably be used to save for our kid's futures and things like that. I like your plan much much better.

 

Thanks!!

[JODEY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunBride we just have a joint account and we don't each have our own "spending money" budget. Sometimes my FH thinks we should, because I get on his case about eating out a lot and buying expensive computer games. In reality, I spent more than him but it's on house stuff and things like that that aren't only for me. I rarely spend money on fun stuff just for myself (except for clothes, and even then, I spend about as much on my clothes as I spend buying his - he hates to shop so I buy all his). I personally don't like the idea of having each our own "do whatever you want" budget. I'd rather work on a case by case basis. When we do small purchases we don't check with eachother, but when we do large ones (like over 100$) then we might run it by the other person first to see if they think it's a good idea. Although my husband says he wants his own spending budget so that I'm not "checking up" on his spending, I remind him that it would have taken him a while to save up for his 1500$ computer or the 600$ he spent on the Wii and accesorries. I personally think this works better because we don't save up for special purchases, as long as we both agree it's worthwhile we just get it right away. Then again, we have more money than we need for our current lifestyle (just dumping it all on the mortgage). If you are on a really tight budget then I can see how each person having an individual personally spending fund would be good.

I'm with you on that, you guys seem to have a similar way as us....
I prefer it that way, although I like to have a surtain amount of indipendance I do feel that working this way also makes out relationship more stable and secure.

[caroline]

We've somewhat merged, pre-wedding... having opened a joint account from which we've been paying rent. We'll be in our own home pretty soon and will have to reconfigure - as I've been paying the bills from my own account.

 

That's going to have to change. And like someone else, my FI earns more in a day than I earn in a week!

 

Thanks for posting, Morgan! Your plan will give us something to work from!

[Hartyt509]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morgan thanks for sharing your story. I think it's so important for both people to know what is going on with their money. Although I'll be the manager, mike will have access to all account passwords & know where I keep the notebook. I've heard many stories like that (probably because I watch a lot of suze orman). I'm glad you have a plan this time around to protect yourself!

Thanks lol it wasn't meant as a "you shouldn't do it" but I just think you need to take a really pragmatic view if not a self preservation one. I never for one minute thought the man I married would end up screwing me for 1000s its just food for thought to keep a little reserve so that you don't end up not being able to eat like I did - and that really isn't an exageration lol

[rodent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hartyt509 Thanks lol it wasn't meant as a "you shouldn't do it" but I just think you need to take a really pragmatic view if not a self preservation one. I never for one minute thought the man I married would end up screwing me for 1000s its just food for thought to keep a little reserve so that you don't end up not being able to eat like I did - and that really isn't an exageration lol

Oh yeah, I didn't think you were advising against it. I agree it's really important for both people to know what's going on & protect themselves. Also, my plan is no a one-size-fits all. Everyone should work out what suites them. But, I think it really helps to have a plan of some sort.