Tips for newly cohabiting couple...

Person_one

alipops1986 wrote: »

Thanks very much!
So, a house similar to mine is for rent at £475 this means £237.50 each rent, however, my mortgage is £450, so we'll call it £225
Then we go halves on the bills which would be £60 each, again for ease. Therefore, he gives me rent of £285, then we halve the food bills?

Does this sound more like it

Do you earn similar amounts? I think 50/50 is fine if you do but you shouldn't be in a situation where one person can pay their half easily but the other is struggling, or where one person has much more disposable income than the other and a different standard of living.

A fairer way if you feel you are a true partnership is to figure out what percentage of the 'household' income you each contribute and then paying the expenses along the same lines. I firmly believe a relationship should be a communist state - "From each according to the ability, to each according to their need'!

alipops1986

iamana1ias wrote: »

Your bills are £120 a month?? Including council tax, tv license, sky tv, electric, gas and water??

We're in the process of getting sky - to that'll increase it slightly, probably £70 tops in the end.

alipops1986

Person_one wrote: »

Do you earn similar amounts? I think 50/50 is fine if you do but you shouldn't be in a situation where one person can pay their half easily but the other is struggling, or where one person has much more disposable income than the other and a different standard of living.

A fairer way if you feel you are a true partnership is to figure out what percentage of the 'household' income you each contribute and then paying the expenses along the same lines. I firmly believe a relationship should be a communist state - "From each according to the ability, to each according to their need'!

We earn exactly the same very helpful!

Person_one

alipops1986 wrote: »

We earn exactly the same very helpful!

That does make it easier!

But it could also help you to avoid a difficult conversation, which is exactly what I did in my last relationship! You won't always earn the same and need to agree on what will happen when things change, for better or worse.

norabatty_2

alipops1986 wrote: »

Thanks very much!
So, a house similar to mine is for rent at £475 this means £237.50 each rent, however, my mortgage is £450, so we'll call it £225
Then we go halves on the bills which would be £60 each, again for ease. Therefore, he gives me rent of £285, then we halve the food bills?

Does this sound more like it

Exactly! As I said, there is probably only a matter of a tenner in it, as is the case here, but you are better covering yourself by charging appropriate rent.

Except, by the way, he's paying rent of £225 and then giving you £60 per months towards bills, as opposed to paying rent of £285. Of course, it all amounts to the same but it keeps you both covered to know that he is not only paying rent, but is also covering his own half of the bills. I know this may all sound pedantic, but this is just the type of stuff couples end up arguing about so it's worth it in the long run to clear it all up in the beginning.

iamana1ias

alipops1986 wrote: »

We're in the process of getting sky - to that'll increase it slightly, probably £70 tops in the end.

Including insurance and everything? Wow!

norabatty_2

HappyMJ wrote: »

Ahhhhh yes but my mortgage is fully offset I don't physically pay anything from my income. I do own the house outright but have a facility/mortgage at the bank where I can drawdown the full balance of the mortgage and invest the cash elsewhere which I have done as the interest earnt on savings accounts exceeds the interest payable on the mortgage.

Making money out of a mortgage? I like that!!

In that case, rake in the money from the savings and don't bother charging anybody at all!! I'm very envious!!

FBaby

Does your partner owns a property that he will be renting out? If not, what you are suggesting doesn't sound like a fair deal to him as he will be paying the same as you, however, in your case it will be an investment in his case nothing. If he is happy with that, that's fair enough, I wouldn't be!!

I (and my two kids) moved with my partner in January after being together 2 years. We moved in his house (which was extended in the process). The house is currently under his name and I have rented my own home (not making a profit from it, actually costing me £150 a month with agency fees and insurance). Initially, we agreed to pay 50/50 on bills since we earn the same amount, however, it became clear that although our salaries are similar, our expenses are not! He gets a company car, doesn't pay insurance and petrol, repairs, car disk etc..., I on the opposite need to pay for everything. I also have my two kids to pay for. I get child benefits, but not entitled to tax credits and get no maintenance from their dad. Breakfast and afterschool clubs alone are £250 a month! Instead of opening a joint account, we have deducted all our personal expenses from our salaries, and then divided bills so that we are both left with the same disposable income. That means that he pays 65% and I pay 35%. The house will be valued soon and then put on both our names, but with different ratio of ownership to take into account all what he has already put in it. In a couple of years time (asuming market goes back up), I will sell my house, pay the mortgage off of our house with the equity of my house and we will then reassess percentage of ownership.

This thread has been focussing on fnances, but there is a lot more to be prepared to adjust to. All the things I was concerned about (he is a lot more tidy that we, especially my kids are!) didn't turn out to be a problem at all, but what caused friction for the first few weeks were those I'd taken for granted (our stand in terms of our relationship/independence etc...). We have worked it now and all is great, but it got so bad at one stage I did wonder whether this was all a mistake. I think the best advice is to be flexible to start with and be prepared to compromise, there are bound to be things that will require it!

Caroline_a

CheeseCat wrote: »

Please don't do this. I got a joint bank account when I moved in with an ex cause I thought we'd be 'together forever an' all that' well, we're obviously not together anymore and can I get him to write a letter to let me close the account? No. There's no money in there but it means we're linked on credit file and I was worried when I applied for my mortgage that they'd take his credit into account too and i'd be rejected.

So for now I would settle with the bills coming out of one of your accounts and the other person setting up a direct debit transfer for half of that amount (or whatever you both agree to pay) so its fair but 'no ties'

Good luck!

Just to say that I didn't mean a joint account for both wages to go into, I meant a joint account that both pay into and the bills come out of (if that makes sense...:)). You of course must both keep your own bank accounts where your wages go into, plus any savings accounts. So then there is no arguing 'I paid this, and you only paid that', each person puts the same amount in each month, and all bills will be split.

iamana1ias

Caroline_a wrote: »

Just to say that I didn't mean a joint account for both wages to go into, I meant a joint account that both pay into and the bills come out of (if that makes sense...:)). You of course must both keep your own bank accounts where your wages go into, plus any savings accounts. So then there is no arguing 'I paid this, and you only paid that', each person puts the same amount in each month, and all bills will be split.

NOT a good idea to combine credit histories so early, whether single accounts are kept or not. This is, quite simply, bad advice.