Best way for two people to manage money without joint account

Buzzy_Bee_2

That's the plan yes just looking at what account is best for it and if there was one that allowed two people access without being 'joint'. Seems there isn't unless you pay around £20 a month so going with a simple bank account instead.

Cash won't work for us I'm afraid but thank you for the suggestion

Buzzybee90

Just popping by to say hi username friend :wave:

lika_86

My boyfriend and I use the AA spend and earn card, it's a prepaid debit card (so no chance of getting overdrawn or running up debt) which is in my name with him as an additional cardholder. We use it for food shopping and joint purchases and it works well for us. We put a set amount in each month and so whoever goes to the supermarket can buy the groceries.

Buzzy_Bee_2

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

Just popping by to say hi username friend :wave:

Lol! Hiiiiii

Buzzy_Bee_2

lika_86 wrote: »

My boyfriend and I use the AA spend and earn card, it's a prepaid debit card (so no chance of getting overdrawn or running up debt) which is in my name with him as an additional cardholder. We use it for food shopping and joint purchases and it works well for us. We put a set amount in each month and so whoever goes to the supermarket can buy the groceries.

That sounds perfect! Are there any charges? I'll go Google that one after dinner, thank you.

lika_86

Buzzy_Bee wrote: »

That sounds perfect! Are there any charges? I'll go Google that one after dinner, thank you.

The charges are set out here http://www.theaa.com/spend-and-earn-card/#tabview%3Dtab2 beyond the initial charge (£10) and the charge for an extra card (£5), the only real charge to bear in mind is for withdrawing cash (£1.50 a time), we don't ever withdraw cash on the card though, only ever using it in supermarkets, shops or restaurants. It works well for us.

jfdi

As you trust one another, why not do what my friend & I do when we go on hols together (Big stuff already paid for).

We keep a running tally on a notepad of the stuff we buy for joint use (eg - I don't put my cigs on there!) - no receipt necessary - & then add it up periodically (every few days in our case). If I'm 'down' by £30 or so, then I'll do the next shop / buy the next lunch etc.

We find that by the end of the week/fortnight there's only a couple of quid in it.

If your spends are roughly even this should work out fine.

Buzzy_Bee_2

jfdi wrote: »

As you trust one another, why not do what my friend & I do when we go on hols together (Big stuff already paid for).

We keep a running tally on a notepad of the stuff we buy for joint use (eg - I don't put my cigs on there!) - no receipt necessary - & then add it up periodically (every few days in our case). If I'm 'down' by £30 or so, then I'll do the next shop / buy the next lunch etc.

We find that by the end of the week/fortnight there's only a couple of quid in it.

If your spends are roughly even this should work out fine.

We actually did this when we first moved in for all the house stuff we were buying, kept a tally with the intention of evening things out. In the end we ended up leaving it as it was, I estimated I'd spent quite a bit more and since I earn more I didn't mind.

Going forward just want to be more organised on a monthly basis and as some have suggested I'd like to put away that little extra each month too so come summer holidays we might have some extra money.

Buzzy_Bee_2

lika_86 wrote: »

The charges are set out here http://www.theaa.com/spend-and-earn-card/#tabview%3Dtab2 beyond the initial charge (£10) and the charge for an extra card (£5), the only real charge to bear in mind is for withdrawing cash (£1.50 a time), we don't ever withdraw cash on the card though, only ever using it in supermarkets, shops or restaurants. It works well for us.

Great stuff, thank you! One question which I can't seem to find the answer to on their site, are you able to pay bills using this card on a monthly automated basis? For example, pay a set monthly payment for the gas & electric via direct debit or something similar? Or do you simply use it as a card and telephone them each month to make a payment?

Buzzy_Bee_2

Looking at the description of the account I'm thinking you can't do this so maybe a combination of this AA card for our shopping etc and a simple bank account for the monthly automated bills could be the answer.