How do you manage your joint income?

redmel1621

I would go for a joint account and set all the DD's up in that account. You can then work out how much each of you needs to transfer each month to cover the bills.

EssexHebridean

We have both a joint account - which the bills are paid from - and separate accounts for our own spending money. For us this is the best of both worlds - MrEH's salary goes straight into the joint account, and a transfer then comes out for his personal cash directly to his account. Mine goes into my account as there is a bit more variability on pay dates - and I then transfer my contribution to the joint account, retaining my personal cash in my own account.

We also have a cashback credit card - technically mine but he's named cardholder on it also so we see this as joint. When the statement comes in we both transfer any personal spending that's gone on the card in the month into the joint account and I transfer to the card from there, along with the joint expenditure.

For running a household, having all the "household" spending coming from a central pot makes it far easier to keep track. You end up with an account with just lumps of income, and then Direct Debits or standing orders out again, making it far easier to track what's gone where.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with those who will attempt to infer that if you don't have just the one account with total transparency on who spends what, down to the last penny, there is some form of problem in your relationship. At the end of the day it entirely comes down to what suits the individual couple - I don't feel the need to check on every last penny of MrEH's spending, nor he on mine, whereas others might feel that they need 100% transparency. Horses for courses. Personal money is just that - I save a far higher proportion of mine than he does, he buys more mars bars than are probably good for him, but each of those things comes down to our own decisions.

One very important point if you choose to go down the separate accounts route however - should anything happen and one of you dies unexpectedly, the other will find themselves temporarily having to fund everything from their own account as the deceased's account will be frozen....that can be a very good reason to have things for household bills arranged centrally. We none of us like to imagine that this could happen, but it pays to be aware. The very last thing most people want at a time when they are dealing with the trauma of the loss of a partner, is to suddenly get a call from the bank to say the mortgage payment has bounced...

Mojisola

EssexHebridean wrote: »

One very important point if you choose to go down the separate accounts route however - should anything happen and one of you dies unexpectedly, the other will find themselves temporarily having to fund everything from their own account as the deceased's account will be frozen....that can be a very good reason to have things for household bills arranged centrally.

It's a good reason to set up POAs too.

Diodiva

I'm at the beginning of this sort of journey, my partner and I have recently moved into our first rented property together, we spit the deposit down the middle shared all the costs and set up a joint account specifically for the deposit saving and moving costs this was then converted into our rent and all other house bills account. We both have a card and full access and transfer an equal amount in each month, however if we are out and about and need shopping etc or something for the house we will often put it on the joint then transfer a little extra when were next doing online banking from our personal accounts

This particular set up is still evolving, initially we alternated food shopping weeks but some weeks were bigger than others now we just use the joint and pay an additional smidge into the account each month to cover the food.

This works for us and as I have small debts and get paid weekly and my partner gets paid monthly and has savings it's easier for us both to manage our own finances and then put in together for holidays and all sorts.

I do expect however that when we have a family or marry this will probably change when maternity pay or a bigger difference in income comes into play and my salary will probablyt hen switch into either being paid straight into the joint account as our money or the majority would bounce straight in. I would expect to be working in a monthly earning job by then however which will make budgeting simpler.

All in all go for what works for you, We dont argue about money, both know the status of each others accounts but have only been together 18 months and despite living together complete linking of our finances isnt really appropriate at this time, and with modern online banking it's not necessary either.

Lou

MallyGirl

dano17439 wrote: »

Me and my wife are a team. We have 1 current account, which everything goes into and goes out of. Personally I don't understand married couples having separate bank accounts. If you are married then you are one. I suppose that I am lucky as we both earn similar amounts, however if wouldn't bother me if I earned a million a year and my wife earned nothing, as a married couple you are in it together no?


As a side note we never argue about money either.

I couldn't think of anything worse that say if I was cold my wife wouldn't let me put the heating on because it would increase her 50%. Ridiculous really

us too - but when we bought our first house together it was an offset One Account which only works if all the money is in one place, offsetting the mortgage, and payments all go out at the latest possible date. Over the years - together 22, married 16 - OH's salary went past mine when I went on maternity and I never caught up as I returned to work part time for 10 years. Just before OH was made redundant he had reached double my full time pay but had to take a big drop with his new job. I am glad that through all this we just worked as a team and have never argued about money. I control all the bills/finances as OH is not interested. He just asks for the current balance sometimes

FrugalinShropshire

We have a joint account that shopping, DD and sinking funds go out of. All our money goes into there and what is left at the end of the month after savings goes equally into our seperate accounts. We are then free to spend our 'pocket money' as we see fit. We budget very carefully using a purse system and always use cash, so spare cash gets put in a jar and banked and divided between us. It works well for us as everything is budgeted for.

ManicRower

Another vote for:


- Joint Account for all the bills/direct debits, bills split 50/50.
- Separate current accounts where our salaries are paid into
- We transfer roughly 20% over and above the bills to cover any household expenses, like a boiler service, or a big shop.


It works well for us because:
- All bills are 'taken care of' at the beginning of the month, it's easy for us to look in our own accounts and see how much we have left over for 'fun' stuff and savings (both each and/or combined).
- We are fortunate enough to both earn decent salaries which are comparable. We both split the flat deposit 50/50 etc.


Having said that, if and when there is a time where our salaries are not comparable (e.g. pregnancy/childcare/redundancy), I envisage covering most if not all of the bills/mortgage and paying for more 'fun stuff' too. I echo what people say about being a team, even though my salary is paid into my account and my wife's the same, we still view it as 'our' money even though it's in different pots.

1730Ian

Thanks everyone!

Applicate all your comments, and taking everything on board

We have set up a meeting with the bank to open up a joint account, so I think we will go down the route of having one central 'pot' for bills and separate accounts for 'play' money/putting in savings

we very much see both wages as 'our' money are also on a very similar pay, the problem has been more getting paid at different times of the month, having to pay out work expenses which we don't see back till the end of month etc, and understanding how each others money works. As I say we are fairly new home buyers and have now took on some personal loans, so its a learning curve how we manage this process!

Fireflyaway

My husband and I each have our own accounts that we are paid into and then we each transfer an agreed sum into a joint one where the bills come out. We earn very differrent amounts and so transfer different amounts for bills ( my husband pays around 3 times more than me) but the key is we both agree on it so we never argue or feel resentful. The tricky bit is agreeing on the amounts to begin with. Could you agree on a sum for bills that means both of you have the same amount of 'spending money' left after bills? Contributing to a successful home is not just about money. If one partner raises the kids saving on childcare costs etc that also holds value.

MrsPorridge

DH and I have a joint account - both salaries go into it and we budget accordingly - it's worked for us for almost 25 years. If you are with a partner (married or not) then you are a team and I cannot understand how you can have different accounts. To me it is our joint money regardless of who has earned it. Over the years he has had jobs paying more than me and I have had jobs paying more than him. He has put inheritance money into the pot as have I. It makes no difference to us - it is OUR money.