Giving my partner an allowance?

zagfles

RadNickC said:

Thanks all for the advice and very interesting examples and experiences.
Just to clarify, the £200 I suggested was worked out as we have about £400 left over after mortgage, bills etc. So would be an equal split.
I appreciate the comments about 'allowance' being for kids and not a partner, which I agree with.
I do like the joint account idea. Trying to think about working this practically
 Currently my salary goes into my account and all bills etc go out of it.
I see 3 options, what do you think?
1. I add my partner to the account (is this even possible?)
2. We set up a joint account to replace my account. And sort salary and bills etc to go to and from that.
3. We set up a new joint account where I'd transfer in £400 or whatever we had leftover each month

Yes you can add your partner to your account, I did. Although that was many years ago, but doubt things have changed.

If you or she has a credit card you can apply for an additional cardholder, we found it much easier to budget with credit cards (set up to pay in full by direct debit) as it's just one payment going out each month from the current account for all spending, and if eg it's an expensive month and you need to (hopefully) temporarily raid savings, you have plenty of time to sort it out between the CC statement date and payment date which is usually 25 days. You can usually change the payment date to be eg just after payday, assuming you're paid monthly.

Obviously you have to trust each other completely with money, and be on the same wavelength on spending.

TBagpuss

Yes, you can add another person to an account or set up a new joint account. I think that would likely be the bet option - you could then have all the money going in so it feels more like your shared money, rather than you being the one in control and her being dependent on you.  Abd when she starts receiving any money again, she could pay that in too.

I think if you leave things in your name but split the surplus then you are still controlling everything.

Also, it means she doesn't have access to the account to see what the bills are - it surely makes sense for you both to have access so you can both keep track of your joint budget and bills. 

But - talk to her - this is a decision that you should be making together .  

sallyardley

Instead of an allowance maybe just a joint account and tell her she can spend what she likes! It will give her more freedom

SunnyCyprus

Are you eligible for Working Familiy Tax Credit?  And then possibly Child Tax Credit?
Its been a few years since I've claimed it, as my children are grown up now, so I'm not sure on the criteria for receiving it. 
I've read the whole thread and it hasn't been mentioned yet.  With my first baby, I wasn't working long enough with my employer so I didn't get Maternity Pay, but Child tax credits became my income until I returned to work after 4 months. 

Something to look into, maybe. 
Good luck with your growing family!x

sheramber

it is not possible to apply for tax credits anymore.

It would ned to be a claim for Universal Credit which is based on the total income of the family.

Have you considered what would happen if you were in an accident and ended up unconscious. How would she manage for money as she would not be able to access your accounts.

SootySweep1

Hi
For me the advantage of a joint account is that it is our money not mine or yours.

We are both currently working, my husband earns more than me and I did have a few months when I wasn't working but I also gave him two children & my jobs have fitted around school drop offs & pick ups etc.

There are months when I'll spend a big amount on myself and likewise for my husband. We do discuss with each other if / when we want to make a larger purchase and we do have a very similar attitude to money so it works for us.

Jen

Threebabes

Agree she needs to have her own bank account with money in each month.

Bluegreen143

I think that there are many great ways to do couples finances and the way that suits you will change over the years.

We’ve done separate pots when first together. Then I was a SAHM (through both agreeing we put high value a parent caring for our kids full time as opposed to the yummy mummy taking the !!!!!! comment I saw further up the thread!!) for 3.5 years. We put everything in one joint account and allocated a small allowance each from this joint account (mine was fairly minimal as I’m not a spender but that was my choice not husband depriving me). Money was tight and as the parent at home I made it my job to make it stretch by growing salad and fruit, baking our own bread, scouring charity shops, doing comparison shopping for bills, entertaining the kids cheaply etc but we both considered we had equal rights to husband’s salary as we’d chosen this path as a family.

I was lucky enough to return to my former career a grade above what I’d been so even though I’m now part time (26 hours a week) I earn almost what I did when I was full time years ago. My salary would be similar to husband’s except he’s full time but again that was a choice we made so I can finish at 3pm and do the school pick up.

We now arrange our finances differently and each keep 20% of our pay in our own accounts and put 80% in the joint pot. The 20% is for personal spending - phone bill, gym, subscriptions, socialising, hobbies, our own clothes, alcohol etc.

The 80% covers all family bills, groceries/petrol etc, savings pots for Christmas, holidays etc and longer term savings/investments. Child benefit covers kids’ clothes and activities.

The 20% is no questions asked, we can spend on whatever we like (or save, I try to save some each month though husband tends to spend all his). 

This is the easiest way we’ve ever managed money but if either of us was unemployed for any reason (retraining, redundancy, illness, another child etc) we would rebalance and probably go back to one pot. Basically for us one pot works best when money is tight, and mainly one pot but with generous personal allowance works best when its not. But different things work for different couples. Ultimately though, it’s important to us to keep most money combined as we are a team.

Mojisola

Bluegreen143 said:

I was lucky enough to return to my former career a grade above what I’d been so even though I’m now part time (26 hours a week) I earn almost what I did when I was full time years ago. My salary would be similar to husband’s except he’s full time but again that was a choice we made so I can finish at 3pm and do the school pick up.

We now arrange our finances differently and each keep 20% of our pay in our own accounts and put 80% in the joint pot. The 20% is for personal spending - phone bill, gym, subscriptions, socialising, hobbies, our own clothes, alcohol etc.

So your 20% is less in cash than the 20% he gets to keep?

Are you paying into a pension from the joint account to keep your retirement income up to the level he will receive from his full-time work?

Gycraig

Bluegreen143 said:

I think that there are many great ways to do couples finances and the way that suits you will change over the years.

We’ve done separate pots when first together. Then I was a SAHM (through both agreeing we put high value a parent caring for our kids full time as opposed to the yummy mummy taking the !!!!!! comment I saw further up the thread!!) for 3.5 years. We put everything in one joint account and allocated a small allowance each from this joint account (mine was fairly minimal as I’m not a spender but that was my choice not husband depriving me). Money was tight and as the parent at home I made it my job to make it stretch by growing salad and fruit, baking our own bread, scouring charity shops, doing comparison shopping for bills, entertaining the kids cheaply etc but we both considered we had equal rights to husband’s salary as we’d chosen this path as a family.

I was lucky enough to return to my former career a grade above what I’d been so even though I’m now part time (26 hours a week) I earn almost what I did when I was full time years ago. My salary would be similar to husband’s except he’s full time but again that was a choice we made so I can finish at 3pm and do the school pick up.

We now arrange our finances differently and each keep 20% of our pay in our own accounts and put 80% in the joint pot. The 20% is for personal spending - phone bill, gym, subscriptions, socialising, hobbies, our own clothes, alcohol etc.

The 80% covers all family bills, groceries/petrol etc, savings pots for Christmas, holidays etc and longer term savings/investments. Child benefit covers kids’ clothes and activities.

The 20% is no questions asked, we can spend on whatever we like (or save, I try to save some each month though husband tends to spend all his). 

This is the easiest way we’ve ever managed money but if either of us was unemployed for any reason (retraining, redundancy, illness, another child etc) we would rebalance and probably go back to one pot. Basically for us one pot works best when money is tight, and mainly one pot but with generous personal allowance works best when its not. But different things work for different couples. Ultimately though, it’s important to us to keep most money combined as we are a team.

Wait so you work part time to raise the kids and your partner gets more spending money than you because of this ?