What are you and FI/DH doing about your finances?

[KJT1985]

His job just transferred us to another state where neither of our individual banks had branches. So we both closed our old accounts and opened a joint account. We each still have separate savings accounts. We'd had a joint credit card for almost a year now. It's certainly taking some getting use to. I feel bad about spending ANY money (including $15 shoes) without telling him OR asking (depending on how much it is). I also don't deal with the bills or know how much outstanding debt we have anymore so I feel like I need to ask. Essentially I put all I need on a credit card and he pays it off. Hehe. It's just different and is going to take a bit to really get use to it.

[BachataBride]

We have totally separate accounts! I give him cash for half the mortgage once a month, and we split the bills. If I need extra money for something I just tell him. It works for us so far! Maybe when a kid comes in the picture we'll change it, but for now everything is fine!

[Boston Bride 2009]

I think we are pretty similar to a lot of people on here. We both have checking and savings accounts that are really ours but with eachothers names on them. Then we both have our own savings account just in our name. We have another joint savings for our next house that we both contribute to. We both pay our bills/utilities from our own accounts automatically (instead of transfering $ back and forth) and for the mortagage he transfers money into "my" account and we pay it from there. I just switched over to his bank to make this all easier. I like the idea that people have mentioned of having the one account linked to both on line banks that you share. Right now our real joint savings is just on mine. I'm definitely going to have them add it to his. Although he has no interest in looking at our money...he just tells me to take care of it.

 

We also have one joint credit card that we are using for the wedding and after that for our home renovations.

 

After the wedding I am going to use a my credit line to pay off his credit cards (he will leave them open for reasons of his credit score) and we will both make payments to my card becasue I have a SUBSTANTIALLY lower interest rate than her does. This will really help our averaged credit score in the long run when we are ready for our next house.

 

I have to say that he has done such an amazing job transforming his spending and bill paying. When I met him he spent so much money and never had a clue when his bills were due. Didn't save. And honestly really didn't care. I think this set up really works for us because it's together but he can still have the freedom to buy what he wishes. He loves to buy me gifts but hates to have me know how much he spent. So this just works.

[Boston Bride 2009]

Not that it matters but I forgot to say my savings account is our wedding savings account right now which gets confusing but it's almost over...

[Brooklyn Carolina]

I think it is nice to have a joint as well as a separate account. That way when you want to buy a present etc. for you fi and surprise him its easier. Plus I always like some of my independence. We also developed a spread sheet with our monthly expenses and sat down and talked about it...we review it every few months to see if we are on track and how we need to adjust....

[Sloan]

We have separate everything. Chequing, savings, credit cards, RRSP's and pension plan stuff are all separate. We split the household bills straight down the middle b/c we both make roughly the same $$ per year. We do have a joint money market fund for emergencies or big household repair/improvements.

[cinnagirl]

We have a joint account that we contribute to for joint expenses (rent, internet, etc) and our own separate accounts for paying our separate bills from. Once we get married the plan is to combine all income into one account to pay bills from, save from, etc and then use our separate accounts as "allowances." So we'll put our allotted spending money in our separate accounts and we're free to do what we like with it. I like the idea of both incomes becoming OUR money, because we are working towards goals together and growing as a family. I'm a bit sad to leave my financial independence though. I have a nifty little emergency fund that I'm proud of that would no longer be solely mine. 

[JayKay]

Thats exactly what we did and it was pretty rough in the beginning.  I'm a saver and my husband is a spender.  I found it really hard that my savings were no longer just mine, but ours.  I worked really hard to save up that much money.  We have a joint account that we both contribute money to each month for bills, a joint savings account, and each our own seperate accounts where we get our monthly allowance and we can spend it how we want, no questions asked.

Originally Posted by cinnagirl 

We have a joint account that we contribute to for joint expenses (rent, internet, etc) and our own separate accounts for paying our separate bills from. Once we get married the plan is to combine all income into one account to pay bills from, save from, etc and then use our separate accounts as "allowances." So we'll put our allotted spending money in our separate accounts and we're free to do what we like with it. I like the idea of both incomes becoming OUR money, because we are working towards goals together and growing as a family. I'm a bit sad to leave my financial independence though. I have a nifty little emergency fund that I'm proud of that would no longer be solely mine. 

[cinnagirl]

Originally Posted by JayKay 

 

Thats exactly what we did and it was pretty rough in the beginning.  I'm a saver and my husband is a spender.  I found it really hard that my savings were no longer just mine, but ours.  I worked really hard to save up that much money.  We have a joint account that we both contribute money to each month for bills, a joint savings account, and each our own seperate accounts where we get our monthly allowance and we can spend it how we want, no questions asked.

I'm actually a reformed spender, haha. I'm huge on saving now and love watching those numbers go up. I'm still paying off some credit card debts, and I hope to get those paid off before the wedding (the school debt is a whole different issue) because I feel like it would be unfair for him to have to pay that off. But I'm proud of what I've done with my money in the past year and it's nice to see it growing in my account. I think it'll make it easier if we're both respectful of the money we bring in to the marriage - don't go spending away my savings and I won't dip into his trust fund.

[june92012]

many places offer free credit counseling which allows you to meet with a professional to discuss your finances and go over a budget and ways to handle budgeting.  It is really helpful to go over it with a third party.  I work as a financial counselor and I can't tell you how often people are dishonest about their finances.  It's very common for someone to come into our office for help to deal with credit card debt and they don't want us to call their home because their spouse doesn't know.  Finances can be split in multiple ways.  It can be done according to the percentage of pay, if you bring in 80% of the pay then you cover 80% of the expenses.  It can be combined 100%.  It can be left separately.  Even if it is left separately spouses should always know what the other spouse has going on because if something happens you will need to assume responsibility for their spouses finances.  It's best to be in the know.