Splitting the bills 50/50, my money, your money - Please your married !!!!

[Deleted User]

Must admit I dont understand this own account thing. Surely if you're married its should be all one thing.

And I'm saying that as the major breadwinner in my house - not just because my wife now works part-time. Over the past 20 years, my income has probably been AT LEAST double what my wifes is.

However, at no point would I ever consider saying it was MY money, and that we were going to split the bills 50/50. If we had done that I guess I'd be loaded by now but the wife would be heavily in debt.

I guess I can see why a lot of relationships fail because of money arguments. In our house, all income is our income and all bills are our bills regardless of whos name the income is in or whos name the bills/ccs/loans are.

libra10

I totally agree paulfoel, that's the way my OH and I have always kept our bank accounts, the old fashioned way!

OH has always earned more than I, but I've dealt with the finances. Now retired, our income goes into a current account, from which bills are paid, and remainder transferred to savings, holidays etc.

I also have my own little savings account, which is rarely used. There is 100% trust in our relationship, I suppose that's why it works.

Best wishes.

iamana1ias

Horses for courses. No way I'd ever have a joint account with a partner, married or not. And bills would be spilt proportionately, so if I earned twice as much I'd split it 66/34 or whatever.

There's no right way of doing it as every couple is different. Good for you if it works, but there's no need to be sanctimonious about it.

hayley11

I agree too. If my OH and I did the "it's my money" thing then i'd probably starve :rotfl: Even though he earns a lot more than me (he works, I get IB) we still have the same amount of "spending money" each month. Imagine how awkward it would be if I had no money at all and he had loads? Or vice versa?

I was talking to my future MIL today actually and she really needs to get something sorted with her husband. They have seperate accounts, where their wages are paid into, she works about 8 hours a week whereas he works about 40. Most of the bills go out of his account, except he chooses not to pay them most of the time and spends the money on god only knows what, getting them into arrears with the rent, council tax etc. She never has any money and has to borrow off her sons all the time. I have no idea how they've ended up like this but it's the cause of a lot of arguements between them.

janninew

When i was married all my wages went into a joint account with my husbands! Don't know how it would have worked otherwise? My ex earned twice as much as me, so if we keep our money separate and paid our own way, i wouldn't have been able to go on holiday with him as i couldn't afford to pay for it on my own! It may work keeping your money separate if your on similar wages otherwise i can't see how it would work without causing a few arguments. Part of being married is sharing everything - well thats what i think!

feesh

My hubbie earns about £25k more than me and we have a mix of the "2 systems"

We have a joint account into which I pay £x a month and he pays £x multiplied by the ratio of our salaries. Everything "joint" comes out of that account - i.e. mortgage, bills, any nights out, petrol for joint day trips etc.

The rest of our wages is ours to keep and do with what we like. It works for us for now, although when we have kids we will have to go completely "joint" as I won't be earning enough to live off, which I am dreading to be honest.

The_Banker_5

iamana1ias wrote: »

Horses for courses. No way I'd ever have a joint account with a partner, married or not. And bills would be spilt proportionately, so if I earned twice as much I'd split it 66/34 or whatever.

There's no right way of doing it as every couple is different. Good for you if it works, but there's no need to be sanctimonious about it.

I take it youre not married then.;)

hayley11

The_Banker wrote: »

I take it youre not married then.;)

Why does it matter if they are married or not?

Becles

It depends on people's circumstances. He's got a rubbish credit rating and I've got a squeaky clean credit record. I don't want to ruin my credit rating by being financially linked to him, so we've got no joint accounts.

He admits he's pants with money, so he sends me some of his salary and I deal with all the bills, mortgage, food shopping etc. He knows what's left is his to run his car and mobile and spend on the usual man crap

Everyone is different and it pays to read up and think about the different ways of sharing money, and then go with whatever method works for you and what you feel comfortable with.

I had a bad experience with joint accounts with my ex. He couldn't budget and just thought the ATM balance = money to be spent. I don't know how many times I'd budgeted enough money in the current account to cover direct debits, and he'd go and spend it so the direct debits bounced

flippin36

We have friends who have lived together 10 years and still have a system where everything is divided up. He owns the house they live in so she pays the bills as she is technically living rent free. They have a grocery "pot" that they contribute as and when it gets low. If they go on holiday for examle it is paid for 50/50 as are any restaurant bills. On the surface they both say they are happy with this set up, but she sometimes feels a little resentful that he doesn't contribute enough to the grocery pot, he "forgets" to put money in sometimes. (He is very wealthy and she has a small part-time wage).

We, on the other hand do the one big pot system. Savings, debts and bills are joint. We never argue about money and we both organise our money and know exactly whats what. Its never a one sided thing.

The_Banker_5

hayley11 wrote: »

Why does it matter if they are married or not?

Married couples who have their own accounts dont seem committed to me. And if they arent married they are even less committed;)

Seems like they just want to still live seperate lives.