Moving in with my boyfriend - advice please

timbstoke

What are your arrangements at the moment? If you're living alone, which it sounds like you are, then your costs should decrease when your boyfriends contributions are taken into account, since you now have two adults working to pay for things instead of doing it all yourself.

Get a new bank account - either in your own name or a joint one - and use it for all bills and household expenses, and ONLY for that purpose. Make sure you can account for every penny in there, and that all of it is going on the household. Then, both of you set up standing orders on your own accounts to transfer the 'housekeeping' money each pay period. The first few months will seem expensive, because you'll both have to put in more you think you need to build a small buffer just in case, but once it's sorted and you've tweaked the amounts you're both paying, you know that what's left in your own accounts is your own money.

You'll need to figure out the details for yourselves - is the housekeeping only for bills, or do you contribute grocery money in there too? Are your daughters clothes etc coming from the household fund or from you paying for those on your own? However you do it, tackling this now will save arguments in the long run.

krustylouise

Thank you,

I do live on my own with my daughter but I have been receiving benefits {housing benefit, council tax benefit and tax credits} and obviously when my BF moves in we won't be receiving these, which is more than okay with me!

We have decided to just put our income into one bank account and have a seperate account for bills, transfer what we need and a little more to cover bills and groceries and then what's left is our savings money.

Thanks again for your replies - I sometimes struggle to get my head around what's what. I'm trying to pay my rent arrears off asap so I can save a little bit of money in case we need it in the beginning.

x

immoral_angeluk

Best thing to do is for both of you to list all of your individual income and expenditure, and then sit down and talk it through and combine it. Have a look at https://www.turn2us.org.uk 's benefit calculator to see how it will affect your benefits. Have a think about how you intend to manage your finances and bills, and then organise it accordingly.
It's often a good idea and easier to have a seperate 'bills account' which you both put your share of your income in to cover the bills, and then to use whatever you have left for your own expenditure.

wattapain

My advice - for what it's worth, is always have separate current/savings accounts, but a joint one for bills, holidays etc.
Also, maybe a good idea to keep credit cards/loans etc in separate names, so that you are only liable for your own debts if the 'worst comes to the worst' !

Sorry to sound like a doom monger, but there you go!!

Hope this all works out for you - good luck!! :)

Terri

immoral_angeluk

wattapain wrote: »

My advice - for what it's worth, is always have separate current/savings accounts, but a joint one for bills, holidays etc.
Also, maybe a good idea to keep credit cards/loans etc in separate names, so that you are only liable for your own debts if the 'worst comes to the worst' !

Sorry to sound like a doom monger, but there you go!!

Hope this all works out for you - good luck!! :)

Terri

Not doombringing at all.. nothing wrong with being realistic!

krustylouise

Hi,

Thank you again for such great advice. We have decided to combine our income because I work 30hours and my BF will work 39hours and he is on a greater pay than me so instead of him having more money than me we are just going to stick our money together and then what's left we can split fairly.

I totally appreciate the whole worst comes to worst scenario {i'm in no way naive!} but my BF would struggle to get loan in my name as I'm bankrupt and have an awful credit score!

xxx