Budgeting for two, in college?

DogMom_2

I would like to hear suggestions on how to fairly split expenses currently with my boyfriend when he begins college and in 18 months when I graduate with my master's and get a well paying job.
I am working towards my Master's degree with three semesters left (research based) and my long term boyfriend has made the decision to enroll in an affordable four year program at a state university. As of now, our incomes are pretty similar and we split expenses to reflect that ~$800 for me and ~$900 a month for him. If he cuts down to 15 hours a week from 45 it will drastically reduce his income but should still be enough to almost cover his portion of the expenses. Not including his vehicle gasoline and the unnecessary spending like cigs and fast food. I have $1000 out in student loans right now and will have $7800 left to pay in tuition and fees before graduating. I have worked to pay off the credit card I ran up over the summer and thus haven't set aside much in savings yet but think I should be able to save up an emergency fund before graduating and also pay towards my tuition. Especially assuming I can maintain cleaning my neighbor's house on the side. His tuition and fees are expected to be around 11k a year. He has a small amount of inheritance he has decided not to touch and to save. I am thinking a good option for us to make more money with minimal time would be to pursue house cleaning together. I currently make $100 a week in about four hours of work. We also discussed the opportunity to work more hours over breaks and summer. When I was in undergrad he was very supportive of me. With the roles reversed now, and his income being reduced compared to mine, should I pay a larger portion of expenses, by how much? Should we split it down the middle? I guess my concern is the burden of taking on loans. How about after I graduate in three semesters and am making a good salary? If we are married at that point, is it my duty to take on more of the expenses to support us as a couple? I know there are many ways to take this, but I was hoping to get some other opinions on it. Thanks!

PeacefulWaters

There's no hard and fast rule. It what you mutually agree and what proves to work for you.

Is your £ key broken?

IanSt

There's no one right answer to your question, but to me the answer is likely to depend on how long you've already been together and what future you see together.

If you see a long term future then I'd be of the view that you should see the two incomes as really just the one and split the bills pro-rata i.e. you pay 80% of the bills if at that time you are receiving 80% of the income.

However if you're in anyway unsure of your relationship then you would need to think very carefully about what share of the bills you take on and I'd tend towards a near 50/50 split no matter what the incomes may be.

sheramber

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

There's no hard and fast rule. It what you mutually agree and what proves to work for you.

Is your £ key broken?

my long term boyfriend has made the decision to enroll in an affordable four year program at a state university.


Looks like poster is in USA

badger09

sheramber wrote: »

my long term boyfriend has made the decision to enroll in an affordable four year program at a state university.


Looks like poster is in USA

'vehicle gasoline';) Why in my head am I saying vee-hick-ul:o

OP, apologies for that.

This is a UK site, but to be honest, your question crosses all sorts of borders:)

You and your boyfriend just need to sit down and discuss openly what works best for you both. Different couples approach this differently.

Some will put everything into a shared pot and pay everything out of that, regardless of who earns more, so puts more in or who spends more. Others will put an equal amount into a shared pot out of which joint expenses are paid, but they keep the rest of their money separate. Others will pay into the shared pot in relation to their relative incomes.

There really is no right or wrong answer. You need to work out together what you think is fair, so that neither of you feels resentful.

FWIW my husband and I have always (20+ years) kept our finances separate, but have always paid equal amounts into our joint account to cover all household expenses and share equally the cost of holidays etc. This is despite the fact that his income has consistently been between 30% - 50% higher than mine. But I have always been a fiercely independent badger:) and it works for us.