Marital Joint Account

HappyFrog

Totally agree with newatc above. My wife and I have always had a joint account and everything goes in/out of that irrespective of how much each earns. I think problems start arising when there is a difference in approach to managing finances between husband & wife. If one is careful and reluctant to splash out whilst the other spends the money on whatever they feel like then there will be problems - and probably a need for separate accounts. If both have a similar approach to money I think there is no need to divide the money up. In the end, as with most things in marriage, it comes down to being able to trust your partner.

RichyRich

There are hundreds of ways to manage money between married partners. What works for some doesn't necessarily work for others. My wife and I both earn similar incomes but we haven't always (she used to earn considerably more than me) - and this is how we do it:

We each get paid into our own personal account from which our own "personal" bills get paid (mobile phone, credit card, etc) and pay into a joint account from which "household" bills get paid (mortgage, TV licence, phone bill etc). Now we pay the same into it but my wife used to pay more than me. We decided amounts based on what we could each afford from our salary: not very scientifically but it seemed to work.

Anything else - meals out, annual expenses such as home or car insurance, supermarket shopping - one or the other pays. We don't have a rigorous way of working it out but I'm sure it works out broadly equitable.

We don't have "my" money and "her" money - if one of us is more flush than the other, that one will pay. I'm reluctant to have one joint account for everything because it could lead to a situation whereby we both draw from the same account without the other knowing and cause a cash flow crisis (we're not hawk eyed on what each other spend so it could easily happen!)

It's not perfect but it works for us and would be such a PITA to change it when the status quo means that we have control and oversight over the main outgoings and neither of us are left short. Plus I do all my spending on a credit card for the rewards and spending from the joint bank account debit card would mean we'd lose that benefit (and we've had multiple "free" stays in lovely Hilton hotels courtesy of that particular perk).

badmemory

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My ex-H & I used to have a joint a/c until this exact thing happened. I'd told him I was going to be drawing cash out & then he rang me to tell me he had done just that. There followed an OMG moment, followed by me charging out of work down to the bank (luckily only 100 yards from me) to pay back in the money drawn out, and it is supposed to be me that is deaf! We kept the joint account for household expenditure mostly DDs because I was running things anyway, but I opened another current account before next payday & obviously managed that too. Whilst it was not my first lesson that people can't be trusted it was my first lesson that people can't be trusted with money.

LXdaddy

As most have said...

My OH and I had very different salary levels but essentially ALL our income was shared, We had no concept of "My money" vs "Your money" - it was all "Our money" and all the costs and bills were "Our bills". We have a main joint account which was the one where the large salary went and all the household bills were paid from. The smaller salary went into a different current account which just happened to be in one name - that account paid for luxuries like holidays and the Christmas bills.
And of course we played the game of multiple current accounts to make the most of interest rates but whoever's name was on the account it was all "Our money".

Shakin_Steve

After reading the above posts, thank goodness we’re not the only ‘old fashioned’ couple who think that marriage means ‘what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine’.

Louten

Yes the house was bought by him just before we met so yes it is in his name and the deeds are too.

Louten

I don't have an allowance as such but he will sometimes pay for things especially the bigger things needed...such as diy on the house. Major holidays overseas we generally pay half each or he will pay more towards it.

Louten

I have a 0% credit card which I used to pay for dental treatment but I do not spend on it. I just make a payment on it every month (more than the minimum required so it is paid off quicker).

About-time

Wow. Even looking at this quickly, it's obvious that you spend pretty much all your salary on keeping things going, he chips in a few quid then has the rest to !!!! up the wall (what does he do with it? It's probably well over a grand a month?)


I'm all for having a bit of spending money to indulge yourself, do hobbies etc but it needs to be a level playing field!

suki1964

He doesn't support his children?

Seriously a marriage is a partnership, what is yours is his, what is his is yours, money should be pooled into one account for day to day living, then what's left after housing,cars, utilities, food, children's expenses etc should then be split. Half into savings for the holidays, DIY, home improvements etc, then the other half split into 2 for personal allowances

My husband earns a lot more then me, for long periods of time I can't work, but I have never in my life had to resort to a credit card to pay for dental treatment, when ever I've needed the money is there for me to spend. No asking, just help myself

Obviously if I'm not earning the wants don't exist I'm not reckless with money, forever changing house decor, buying clothes that are never worn etc. But the needs are always paid for, no questions asked