We have a joint account for bills/everyday spending. I have my own checking account to hide bonus, fantasy football, gift money. It was set up so I could keep work travel expenses separate from personal ones. I don't travel much for work anymore so it's become more of a place to stash some cash.
My wife and I have a joint account, which we both police rigorously, so if someone wants something, they have to ask the other person. Yes it sucks that I can't just run out and buy something on impulse, but then again, she can't, either. We've done it this way for years now, and it's worked out pretty well. Prior to living together, as both of us came from fairly well-to-do families, we were used to spending and spending and spending without any real consequence. Thus, when we moved in together, we decided this "iron fist" policy was the best course of action to change our terrible purchasing behavior and avoid any possibility of debt. And it totally has. Now, we spend far less money on stupid s***, and our bank account has grown tremendously.
A friend of mine just told me this week that they both do a joint checking for everything, but for the new year, they decided to have a "slush" fund so they can buy personal things...How much you may ask, $50/month...Yeah, he's cheap... Personally, I prefer the joint, but if I ever get married again, she'll have to work and my paycheck would pay everything and we'd use her to save/travel, etc...Mostly for retirement...
I really don't see the point in having joint banking accounts. It is so easy to just transfer money to one another when needed. Plus, if my husband would like to spend his money on a Wii, video games or whatever it is, go ahead!! He works hard for his money, so who I am to tell him what to do!! I never understood why some people have this idea that you have to share EVERYTHING when you're married. I think it's stupid to be honest with you.
Translation: My husbands paycheck pays for the mortgage, bills, food, living expenses. My paycheck is for hair salons, spas, massages, Neimans, etc
We have separate checking accounts, but we share a savings account (we also each have our own savings account).
Yup, pretty much... Actually, you can ask my husband and he will agree that I hardly ever spend money on those items you just listed.
joint accounts (checking/savings) and separate credit cards. Luckily I have access to her cards (I pay them online), so there really aren't any surprises
We have one account...opened it when we got married. Now that we have a kid, I'm not sure how we would divide up spending on the child. I think that would be a lot of hassle, without a lot of gain. We just put our money in there and discuss what we spend, beyond the utilities, mortgage, and groceries. I make the majrity of the decisions on how much we save, how much we invest. I think its good, because it forces us to discuss our financial goals, and puts us on the same page (even if we don't start on the same page). Plus, if she wants something "extra", I'm open to spending less on my "extras" for a while to cover it, and vice-versa. It basically forces you to communicate about and work together or a topic that casuses a lot of headaches for couples. We've always been pretty good with it, so far (7 years).
Oh man oh man this is something that I struggled with mightily when I first got married!!! In the beginning, I kept my checking account and added her to it and she kept her checking account and added me to it. She also in the beginning was responsible for keeping up with both accounts. Well, that was a disaster - let me tell you! It seemed like every month I was sweating out whether or not we would have some checks bounce. So, I finally took some action - first thing was that we were going to go to one checking account only. Since she has several things automatically taken out of her checking account, it was a lot easier to just get rid of my checking account. The next thing was that I became in charge of doing our books and I religiously kept our budget updated. Things have gone so much better since doing it that way - and my wife has been a big reason for that success as she has done a much better job in controlling her urges to buy stuff like clothes, shoes, etc. and we were able to pay off some of her credit cards, too. Now what we do is I tell her if our money is tight or not, that way she knows she can buy stuff for herself if she gets the urge.
Joint. She gets all the money and pays all the bills. When some is left over, we'll confer on what to do with it. We confer on all large purchases. I get a weekly allowance for lunches and small stuff. I do the taxes and investments. Since I'm gone for 2-3 week chunks and sometimes stuck out in the woods with no communication, much less a post office or computer, it makes sense for her to do everything. The day I retire is the day she's waiting for payback in a big way... I'll then have to do everything until I croak. Speaking of, we've always had joint everything just because it's a lot easier to deal with should one of you die. I've known too many people who had no clue what was going on when a spouse died. So, for all of you with different accounts, make sure your spouse knows where your money is and how to access it.
Let's see how many people know who your husband is on here. And y'all better get a babysitter one of these nights. I've been bugging your husband for a couple months to come into town with us.
This is essentially what we do. We have a joint account for the mortgage, household bills including food and some other things that we each contribute to, a joint savings, and then we have separate accounts for "personal" spending. It works well for us.
