Joint Accounts

ThrobsBlackHat

I am getting married next year

Should we get a joint account - we'll both be working.

Or is it better to keep them seperate?

Honest answers from people who have been married a while appreciated!



Also, is it better to take my account (where all the household direct debits go from) and add her - or should we start a new account and take any free cash on offer? we're both currently with Barclays

Plasticman

I'm sure you'll get lots of people who say keep them separate and an equal amount suggesting a joint account. In our house we have separate accounts and all of the bills are paid from mine as I am the only wage earner. When my wife was working she paid for the weekly shopping and some of the other costs that weren't paid by direct debit (petrol in the car etc) from her account. We have a joint credit card so my wife always has the ability to spend if she needs to!


It has worked well for us and we don't have the risk of the current account going overdrawn because I know exactly what goes in and out. I know other people who have opened joint accounts and both put a set amount in each month to cover bills etc. I guess the answer is to do whatever you both feel comfortable with. DW and I have never had an argument over money and I think that sorting this out from the beginning helped a lot!

BTW, I would seriously consider moving from Barclays to somebody like Alliance & Leicester who will give you some interest on your account.

Hawksmuir

We have both,

We pay a set amount into the joint account every month to cover the mortgage, council tax, utility bills, shopping & holiday fund.

The money that is left in our own accounts is then our own to waste/invest/spend on each other as we please.

In our opinion this works perfectly

Bossyboots

I've been married 25 years and we have never had a joint account.

We are looking at converting hubby's bank account to joint now though as all the bills are paid from it and if something were to happen to him, the account would be frozen and that could cause difficulties at a time when things would be pretty awful anyway.

*Louise*

Well, not married, but been living together for years....all our income goes into the same account. Then it s siphoned into other areas from there.

I son't see the harm in having a joint account, as long as you can both keep track of the money.

It doesn't work if one person is a shopaholic!!!

mary

Well, been married 30+ years. Whats His is Ours, and whats Mine is my own.
No doubt that will attract some comment!!!
(I should add His pays all bills etc. and he is the main breadwinner, Mine is for the extras and for my pension, as I've been looking after the 6 kids and haven't had a paid job)

us,thecat&thedebt

mary wrote:

Well, been married 30+ years. Whats His is Ours, and whats Mine is my own.
No doubt that will attract some comment!!!
)

hehehe isnt that always the way lol

well weve done it all three possible ways

1 wages get paid into own accounts x amount transfered then bills ect paid from there rest is for spending ect

2 one joint account with wages going in

3 no joint account seperate finances

personally no 2 was the worst for us as it didnt help us budget
no 3 was inconvenient as had to work out what bills to be paid ect

no 1 was the best and the way we have stuck to
this is because
we both have a sole account and can spend money on suprises for the oh
the money needed to pay bills and debts is put aside and never used for other things as i dont have a card for this account..

i find this is the best way as once i have put the monthly amount for bills ect i dont have to worry about keeping it aside...

i think the best thing you can do is try it out and see what works best for you

different people different ways ect.....

goodluck

Ember999

Been married 18 years, always had joint account for all our wages to go in to. I then syphon off monies to various other accounts (all in my name soley as I look after all our money) to pay bills, mortgages etc. He has his own credit card for spending money, me also. I am the only one that takes money out of our joint account or my sole accounts. He asks for money if he needs it or spends on his credit card and I pay the bill when it comes in. It's worked for us for 18 years and was his choice when we met. We never argue about money and we are both happy with it. Of course, if ever there was a boo-boo I would be held responsible as I look after it all. Two people 'dipping' in to accounts could cause problems in my opinion. However, one person not having access to funds would also cause problems so that's why he has his own credit card for spending when he needs it. Bits of cash for his pocket he rarely wants as I pay for everything. If he does spend cash he spends it on me anyway :rotfl: It works for us, but you have to find your own way of doing things, just make sure it's fair to both of you and you will both be happy. That's the main thing.

joe13

Hawksmuir wrote:

We have both,

We pay a set amount into the joint account every month to cover the mortgage, council tax, utility bills, shopping & holiday fund.

The money that is left in our own accounts is then our own to waste/invest/spend on each other as we please.

In our opinion this works perfectly

This system has also worked for us for over 20 years.

Joey_3

Hawksmuir wrote:

We have both,

We pay a set amount into the joint account every month to cover the mortgage, council tax, utility bills, shopping & holiday fund.

The money that is left in our own accounts is then our own to waste/invest/spend on each other as we please.

In our opinion this works perfectly

This is what we do too, it's a lot easier to control and you can then see what's left of your own money whilst paying for the bills etc fairly. My OH has a lot more monthly outgoings so this is ideal for us.

[Deleted User]

we have been married for 35 years. We have always had a joint account. My husband has always had an allowance and so have I. I have a sole account at a bank and he has a sole building society account. It is important to have some privacy via the sole accounts but transparency with the joint account