Do you give you and your partner 'pocket money'

Any

dreamdreamer wrote: »

We don't do this. I manage all the household finances (OH pays his contribution direct into my account) except the TV package because he wanted every channel under the sun so I told him if he wanted it, he was paying for it! The household bills come out of my current account.

The rest of our money is ours to save or spend as we please. We don't have kids though, if/when we do we'll rethink.

This is us. To the TV package!!!:rotfl:The only difference is that we pay it to the joint account so I can keep my own money separately and they are easier to control how much I have left.
I have to say my OH wouldn't get very far with £20... I don't think I would. But if that is what you can afford that is what it is!! If we hit hard times I am sure he would also have to manage...
But unless he asked me to I wouldn't give it to him weekly.. He might want to go out with mates one week and need more and not go anywhere another..

Catty89

Any wrote: »

This is us. To the TV package!!!:rotfl:The only difference is that we pay it to the joint account so I can keep my own money separately and they are easier to control how much I have left.
I have to say my OH wouldn't get very far with £20... I don't think I would. But if that is what you can afford that is what it is!! If we hit hard times I am sure he would also have to manage...
But unless he asked me to I wouldn't give it to him weekly.. He might want to go out with mates one week and need more and not go anywhere another..

We used to have every channel under the sun but have cancelled some of them. I know what you mean £20 is so little so i think no matter how i do it itl still be such a tiny amount. OH could easily spend £50 on one night probably more so not sure how i can make £80 look good to him.

Ahh well it wont be forever ( fingers crossed)

Any

owen_money wrote: »

Does he charge you to watch the TV?

Believe me, he would have to pay me to sit there and watch every football game on earth!!

dreamdreamer wrote: »

I should charge him for the torture of watching nothing but Top Gear and Wheeler Dealers!

I don't mind Top Gear.. but Wheeler Dealers?? Also on top of my OH's list...
And the American programmes like refurbishing business, car makeovers, the two dudes who drive around with a van and buy collectibles... I have second TV in the kitchen to make sure I can watch something normal occassionaly!! :rotfl:

Flower08

All our money goes into one joint bank account. As OH is the main earner, I wait until he has been paid then pay all the bills, anything left after that is for 'spends'. Until recently I used to sort all this out and tell OH how much we had for the month including money for food shopping.
However, recently he has taken more of an interest and will actually sit down and look through the budgets with me now, which has taken a lot of the pressure off me thank god

Any

Flower08 wrote: »

However, recently he has taken more of an interest and will actually sit down and look through the budgets with me now, which has taken a lot of the pressure off me thank god

My OH would ran a mile if I even suggested it..
I am not sure he knows how much we can/cannot spend on food or anything. I just revise annualy all bills with food shopping and he sends what I say it is.
He has difficulties controlling his own money he has to spend, never mind whole household budget!

Before I came on scene I think he lived 2 weeks like a king and 2 weeks on beans on toast..

It works for us... I don't care how much lawn mowers or car cleaning equipment are or when we need them!!:rotfl:

System

The only money I get is our sons Family Allowance which is paid into my bank account and whatever money I make online.

Hubby holds the financial purse strings but he works and I don't.

paulineb_2

Catty89 wrote: »

We used to have every channel under the sun but have cancelled some of them. I know what you mean £20 is so little so i think no matter how i do it itl still be such a tiny amount. OH could easily spend £50 on one night probably more so not sure how i can make £80 look good to him.

Ahh well it wont be forever ( fingers crossed)

Could easily spend £50 in one night, but cant anymore

It perhaps isnt that attractive, but its a lot more attractive than a fiver.

pollyanna24

I'm single now, and don't think I like the idea of "sharing" my money ever again!

When I was with ex, when we were starting to think about kids, we used to have all our money put into a joint account and then I used to transfer £400 each into our own accounts. This was for whatever we wanted (similar to what quite a few couples do on here).

£400 was plenty enough for me and I used to save quite a bit of it. Ex was always complaining. Told him he needed to earn more than as I was the main earner, but still had the same "spending money" as him.

Then when we had our first, the money went down even more to £200. Then the complaining started in earnest, but he refused to even get a part time job (yep I went back full time when lo was 8months old).

Now that I'm single, I give myself £300 to spend out of my wages, but this is for petrol, groceries, things for my girls and wine!! Oh, and fags. Yep, I know, naughty.

I almost never stick to it, not as strict as what I was when I was in a couple, but I still save a little every month and don't buy "silly" things, i.e. I live within my means.

Next month though, I will be spending more than I'm earning as it's car insurance time and I've put aside £500 for it as I don't like paying for it monthly.

jaffacakegal

Any wrote: »

Before I came on scene I think he lived 2 weeks like a king and 2 weeks on beans on toast..

This sounds like my OH! Beer fags and nights out the weekend of payday, struggling to afford basic items the rest of the month. If we ever move in together I will definitely try and knock this out of him!

Because of this attitude, I would much prefer the pocket money idea, and bills being split straight down the middle (except my mortgage which I would want to pay in full, and making him pay for all the channels and extras Sky have to offer!). If we didn't I would probably be resentful of having to stump up more as the higher earner.

LEJC

we used to do this whilst we were saving when we first got married...it worked ok for us probably because we were both working towards a common goal that we both supported,and yep occaisionally we allowed treats etc so it didnt all seem too much of a chore.

It is a real difficult thing to do if you arnt of that mindset or focused,and you also need to be realistic about what the money is to cover....perhaps you both need to sit down and make lists of the types of things you currently buy and add up the cost then look at items that can be reduced,or removed.

For example if the £20 is to cover magazine purchases for you...I doubt once your little one is born you'll even glance at them...
Items such as clothes and make up usually start to fall into the catagory of christmas/birthday presents...and certainly for us a meal out became a real rare treat and only when babysitiing grandparents could be found...and even if we did get said sitters we were too tired to go out!
The luxury of having time to put on makeup or at times even have a bath was a distant memory and suddenly everything you both saw as imprtant before the baby arrived might suddenly not seem as necessary after the arrival,or certainly not straight away

By all means set a budget...but dont make it so rigid that it becomes too difficult to stick to...I think you will also find that you become much more creative with how you spend your money...and what you also have to remember is that whilst you are not earning you will still get some money in,in the form of family allowance etc...you also wont have a lot of expense thats associated with a working person....so dont forget to factor those things in when considering your overall budget plan
How do you make £80 look good to him...his son or daughter will look far more appealing