How dod you and your partner set up your finances?

burnoutbabe

seperate everything, apart from he pays me 50% o the bills and all joint spending goes on a credit card that we then split 50/50 (much easier than arguing about who paid last).

to the OP, WHY do you suddenly want to change the way you run things? are incomes going to be very unequal soon (say baby on way).

Joint savings goals make sense BUT you can't have ISAs in joint names, nor premium bonds, nor pension plans. Some rainy day money for holidays joint is a good idea but else most savings would be in one name or the other.

time2deal

I pay for most thing to do with the house (mortgage, council tax, sky, phone, insurance etc), oh pays car expenses (tax, MOT, insurance, parking sticker) plus our energy bills. About 60/40 on food costs, and we split social costs - like holidays.

It works out roughly proportional to our incomes - and ensures that we can do what we want socially without OH feeling like I am paying for everything, and I don't feel we can't do fun things as OH can't afford it.

We are married - I think our approach is a bit strange but it works for us.

thegirlintheattic

We have seperate everything pretty much - both have own current accounts, savings accounts etc. I give OH the money for my share of the bills and rent each month, twice a month I buy the shopping and twice a month he does. We are not greedy or selfish people so it works well. One week one of us may spend more, the other month the other may.

For joint going out, weekends away etc. usually one of us pays fuel and the other accommodation, and we casually pay for each other's drinks and meals.

It works for us; although when we finally buy a house together we will probably get a joint account for household expenses and a joint savings account but will both want to keep our own accounts as well.

Carl31

all our money goes in together. I come from all sources is 'our' money. Makes xmas and birthdays weird as you effectively buy your own present, but it keeps things even between us. My wife only works part time so it wouldnt be fair otherwise

Katexx

Everything separate. I just don't like the thought of having joint accounts; I like to be in control! All the bills come directly from my bank account and my boyfriend just puts his share in my account every month because what he contributes varies depending on how much he's worked that month, whereas I have a steady income and earn more. We each have our own separate savings accounts. We've been together nearly 6 years, lived together for over 2 years.

Having joint account seems like a more 'old-fashioned' way to do things to me...I don't know any couples around my age (early 20s) who have joint accounts or combined savings. Everyone I know happily keeps everything fairly separate.

Osarkon

Two seperate current accounts, one joint account, personal savings and joint savings account.

Joint account is used for bills. We both pay into the joint savings account equally monthly.

Everything else is left in our current accounts independently.

valk_scot

Joint bank account, joint credit card, joint mortgage, joint savings, joint everything. He works to bring in the money, I look after the kids and household and everything else so we're very much a team and the way we handle the money reflects this.

Want2makeitstretchfurther

To put a slightly different perspective on things, I deal with all money, at my husbands insistence, he was in the forces for many years so didn't have to deal with money and by his own admission is pretty useless with it, also his mental health (and being rather soft!) makes him vulnerable to being taken advantage of. His war disablement pension etc are paid into his account each month, my earnings are paid into my business account and child benefit etc into my personal account, I transfer whatever is needed from his account and business account to my current account and use that to pay bills most of which are on DD, and general living expenses. I transfer any left overs to savings or to the 'car/oil/major expense' accounts (all in my name) to be used for those expenses. He refuses to carry cash or a debit card, I keep his debit card, but its in my wallet if he wants it, if he wants something small he just takes the money and if either of us want something big we discuss it, I plan and decide where the money will come from then we get it. As he never goes out alone its never a problem, the only time it can be a slight issue is if he wants to buy me a present as because I keep a very tight eye on finances I always end up finding out about it! Although some people might find this very controlling and he might appear to be not allowed to have money this is the way he wants it, and it works for us, it does need a huge degree of trust, but we have that and its never been a problem.

dundeediva

Carl31 wrote: »

all our money goes in together. I come from all sources is 'our' money. Makes xmas and birthdays weird as you effectively buy your own present, but it keeps things even between us. My wife only works part time so it wouldnt be fair otherwise

I'm the same. We have 2 joint accounts, one for wages in and everything out of and one savings account! I have a single account but haven't used it in about 8 years!

tanith

Separate accounts for income and savings one joint acc we both pay into for bills we pay in more than necessary so this builds up for unexpected repairs or purchases... hubby pays in a bit extra as I am retired and he's still working but its worked for us for over 20yrs now.. never an argument over money as we are each responsible for our own.