What's the best way .....

BlueStraw_2

I really don't know the best way of doing this, have tried all sorts but nothing seems to really work. So thought the regulars on here may be able to give me some ideas.

I need to find an efficient way to track my and OH's finances. The problem is we get paid on a different rota (I get paid monthly, OH gets paid 4 weekly). Ideally I'd like to get a joint account to cover all the bills etc so that what's left for food is what's left and it can't be overspent.

At the moment, some DDR's go from my account (in particular rent) and some from his (e.g council tax, contents insurance etc) in theory he's supposed to pay for food etc from his account with a small weekly STO from me to top it up - but I still find my self regularly transferring money to his to make sure he doesn't go over overdraft so at the end of the month we have nothing to save and have only made minimum repayments on things. When I do a budget of everything it seems to balance, yet we always get hit with emergencies such as urgent car repairs etc that always puts us 2 steps back.

It would be a lot simpler to have a joint account, but OH has a bad credit history - he has credit cards frozen totaling £15k due which he inherited on the breakup of his marriage (were all in his name so ex-wife got off scott free!). I have about £15k in savings, but don't really want to use my savings to pay his bad debts - I have made a low offer to them but they won't accept so I think it's best we stick to separate accounts.

Is there a way of having a joint account without is being linked financially?

I was also looking into a prepaid card type thing, so that at beginning of each month we can both transfer what's left to it, and use that for spending - the thing is they are geared towards holiday spending so a lot of them charge for spending and atm withdrawals in the UK - so although a good idea, financially it's a stupid one.

Other problem is OH, no matter how hard he tries, is just not interested in tracking where the money goes. Once upon a time he let me log in to his online banking to track the money, then when he tried to log on he couldn't remember the password and we're now locked out. He said that he will now take responsibility for his account - that lasted 5 minutes so now he's opted for telephone banking - but that's a real pain - 0845 numbers and they don't detail who the purchases are too!!

I hate talking about money with OH as he get's very defensive as he feels that I think he spends too much. That's not the case, there are areas we can both cut down on. We don't go out much really the only major thing we could cut is the gym membership - but we both enjoy that luxury so would like to keep it.

My OH is great at managing people in his work - looking at sales and targets, if only he could apply that to our finances.

I just wondered what other couples' approaches are to finance. How to you plan for the next week, month, year etc. Any tips on discussing money matters without sounding like you're moaning.

I really want us to get sorted financially as we want to start a family in the near future, and as I'm the main breadwinner I'm worried how we'll cope.

Thanks again for any help and ideas. I'd really love to meet up with Martin Lewis so he can give us a money makeover - so if you're reading this Martin, please get in touch!

Thanks

BlueStraw

jen245

Your OH sounds like mine! He's useless with money, and for that reason, we don't have any joint accounts, and I'm happy with that. The way we do it, is he has certain bills that he pays out of his account, and I have some bills paid out of mine. He earns a bit more than I do, so we've worked it out in such a way, that we both have the same amount of disposable income once everything is paid, and we take turns doing the weekly shop, it sounds a bit mad, but its worked for us for 10 years. The difference is, is that I don't waste my money, I save a huge chunk, whereas he saves very little, although he is getting better at saving. He still spends money on cr*p though, but that's his choice, and it doesn't affect me, cus if he doesn't have enough money to see him through till next payday, that's just tough, although to be fair, that doesn't happen that often.

premierfella

I would forget any idea of getting a joint account at the moment. All that would do is link your good credit to the OH's bad credit and, when it comes down to it, you will still have to spend a minimum amount on food which may be greater than the sum left in the account.

If you are always getting hit with "emergencies", that probably means that you have underestimated the amount for those in the budget (or left them out of the budget entirely!)

Personally, I think the easiest way to make the current set-up work is to separate the money which has to stay in the OH's account to cover DDs (and float to cover their share of "emergencies") from the OH's discretionary spending. The easiest way to do that is for the OH to have a second cashcard account that they transfer their non-bills personal spending money into (e.g. Natwest First Reserve). As long as the OH is prepared to get agreement for "emergency" spending (which you can then keep proper track of) and not touch ANY funds in their "bills" account without your knowledge, it will soon be obvious if the problem is actually the OH spending more than you expected/budgeted or something else.

Tread very carefully though - don't let money get in the way of your relationship.

chiggins

What is the best way to repay a £2,000 overdraft?
Would I be able to transfer it to an interest free credit card? Thanks

agrinnall

chiggins wrote: »

What is the best way to repay a £2,000 overdraft?
Would I be able to transfer it to an interest free credit card? Thanks

As you've been on this site for 5 years and made a few posts previously you should know not to resurrect old threads, particularly when your question should be in a different section. Please start your own thread in either the Credit Cards or Debt Free Wannabe board.