How do you manage your finances as a couple?

arthur_dent_2

No its not that bad, perhaps I have not written it down too well. Hubby pays for all the bills including food. £20 a week is for clothes and sweets and toys, birthdays all the non essentials.

arthur_dent_2

Food bill does have to be about £35 a week though or he will moan.

newlywed

I think margaretclare's point is, if anything happened to him, could you pay bills, take over, and have money to eat?

Might be worth trying to save a bit of that £20 allowance in case of any emergencies.

I work fulltime so have my wages. Our gas and electric are on prepay so I would be fine as it's cash (I pay that anyway), council tax is direct debit from OH's account, rent is in both names and paid online so I could easily do that from my wages in emergency.

Other than water rates, the only things that might cause problem for us is sky and bt - don't think that would bother me if they were cut off as I have my mobile.

arthur_dent_2

I used to do all the budgeting myself but i got so utterly fed up with him nagging me about my spending i told him he could do it. It has been this way ever since and to be honest he drives me nuts and is very tight with his money but at least we are not in any debt and we have a nice house etc,.

ejh18

Myself and my OH have 4 separate current accounts between us. We each have our own accounts that our wages get paid into. We also have two joint accounts, one to pay rent and bills, the other to pay for food and other shared expenses.We started out with only the one joint account for the bills, but we got sick of always owing each other money for food etc, so we opened a second joint account. We worked out how much money we needed to pay the rent/bills/food/shared spending each month and then set up standing orders paying into both joint accounts after we get our wages. We decided that what we each pay in should be in proportion to our wages, i.e. OH earns about twice as much as me so I pay about 1/3 of the total into the joint accounts and he pays 2/3. I like the fact that the general spending is separate to the bills as we don't have to worry about a direct debit bouncing. We over pay slightly into the spending account so that we have money for household expenses that are not regular purchases. Although my OH has a lot more spare money, he does treat me quite a lot , but he's also very good with money so saves a lot too (which will be our house deposit, along with the paltry amount that I manage to save!)

You lot have got me thinking about what the situation would be if anything should happen to my OH. I guess in the immediate future I would be able to pay the rent/bills as long as his wages go into his current account and the standing order gets paid, but would his bank account automatically be frozen? If that were the case I would not be able to pay the bills. Would companies be sympathetic? Also, what happens long term? I'm named as his partner on his work pension, and his mine, but what does that mean? Should we have wills as we're not married? Would the situation be different if we were married, would that mean we could access each others personal accounts? I don't really want to think about this, but if anything did happen, I'm sure, like anyone else in that situation, that I would not be up to dealing with finances/banks etc.

supersmith

Myself and OH have a joint acct which we both transfer the same amount of money every month to cover mortgage, bills, food etc. Our salaries are paid into our own accounts and we can do whatever we like with our own money - I can't moan if he buys gadgets and he can't complain about the clothes shopping We have our own savings but want to start some joint savings so might start paying more into joint account to do this.
However, I think this works as we both get paid about the same at the min. If we earnt different amounts I'd be tempted to do a proportion of income, or keep back a set amount which is the same for both of us that we can spend as we please. I like having control of my own money and it's also useful for birthday presents and treating each other that we don't have to hide the statement for the joint account in case the other person find out what we bought for them!

moominlaura

My partner and I each have our own accounts and put in a percentage of our earnings into the joint account to cover mortgage and all bills. We also have a savings account each which we transfer the same into and an ISA each. So we are roughly left with the same each month in our own current accounts.

This way, we find we have enough money left over in our own accounts for going out with the girls/boys, birthdays etc, without the other one knowing how much has been spent.

We find this works quite well, as although he earns more than I do and therefore puts more money into the joint account I take more time off work when the little one is ill etc.

moominlaura

Hi EJH18,

I have just had a look at your post, and regarding your questions about anything happening to your partner. The answer isnt easy. My Auntie passed away a couple of years ago and she was the one who dealt with all the finances. My Unlce was left unaware of what accounts they had etc. As soon as you notify the banks though they will freeze all accounts. Only can the benificiary sort out those accounts and then move money around.

Companies will tend to give you some time to sort finances and pay their direct debits once sorted.

But to make sure there are no legalities, I would recommend you both do a will especially if you have children!

I think though, and i will stand corrected if it is not. But the next of kin will legally be mother or father of the deceased if he/she is not married!

My partner and I have had to sort out all this as we have a child, but the hardest decision to make was to decide who would look after our child if anything were to happen to both of us! End of the day we dont want to upset either side of the family!

OrangeProse

My BF and I have separate current accounts, into which our respective salaries are paid.

He earns about 2.5x what I do so his account is the one that the rent, insurance and utilities etc come out of. I have a standing order set up which transfers my contribution of that into his account.

Up to now we've split everything 50/50, but his income will continue to rise a lot over the next 5 years and mine will stay the same. So if we move somewhere more expensive or get that BMW X5 he's always had his eye on (!), we've agreed that we'll implement a me/him 30/70 split in certain circumstances.

I don't have any savings (slaps own wrist) but he does, kind of - one of those investment things where you dump £2000 into some fund and leave it alone for 10 years.

Traditionally (we've been together for 5 years) he's done all the budgeting, spreadsheets and so on for both of us. He also sorts out all the utilities, insurance, tax. I think that has to change though as his work takes up so much time and energy that he's not been doing it as regularly. Plus he's got no real interest in doing the spadework necessary to find good deals on switching - he just likes the result!

So I've asked to take over the whole lot, but I think he's reticent about relinquishing control! (That's what happens when you have two headstrong alpha males in a relationship.) I will get my way, though.

We make sure that all direct debits are set up to go out on the 1st or 2nd of each month, seeing as we are both paid on the last Friday of each month. That way, within a few days of getting paid, all our 'essentials' go straight out - the money is always there for them. Once we've budgeted for food, fuel, Travelcards etc whatever's left is ours.

I'd recommend that the two of you sit down and sketch everything out. Make a plan. Use a spreadsheet if you can. And make a policy decision about your 'own' money - is it yours individually to spend as you like, or is it put into a big pot and used jointly? Worth deciding, as this can cause arguments (I know from experience).

I really like that idea of monthly finance meetings, too. Think we'll start doing that.

Baileys_Babe

We have lived together over 10 years. I am in control of the finances. We have seperate accounts but are completely open about what money we have.OH has a credit card and I have a dupicate card on the same account, we pay this off in full every month. OH earns about 4x my income. This works for us as we both have the same attitude to money. Keep discussing getting a joint but as we don't even have enough savings at present to use our ISA allowances it a bit of a moot point.