lending to spouses?

margaretclare

We're 2 retired wrinklies and we have our own accounts into which pension and annuity income gets paid. We each have an ISA account for saving. We also have a joint account to which we both contribute and which is kept solely for paying household bills by direct debit.

But we do discuss all our finances openly, make joint decisions etc, nothing is hidden. We have a bit of a joke - e.g. he's just bought me a new battery for my mobile phone and he says 'You owe me £5'. We're quite light-hearted about it all.

I can't understand the scenario the OP describes, where Mum lent Dad £10 and moans to others that he hasn't paid her back. A bit foreign to me!

Margaret

nearlyrich

We have a joint account for bills, split holiday costs other big buys and grocery shopping. We have never had a cross word about money and I can indulge my passion for shoes without him getting overexcited.

izoomzoom

DH and I both have separate accounts, although our money is shared. I pay for some DDs and DH pays for the others, and we transfer money between each others account if one runs low.

Overall I CONTROL the finances and DH will use his account to buy a few man things, and petrol. DH will usually run it past me when he needs to fill the car, just in case I want him to pay another way (ie my account or CC) as he really don't have a clue what is in his account.

And DH really does listen when I tell him things are really tight - except he still doesn't realise that fags cost the bloody earth :mad:

oysterman

I had a friend whose boyfriend used to charge her petrol money when he gave her a lift (they lived together and he dropped her to the bus stop on his way to work)

My brother charged his girlfriend half the price of a new tyre, because she was driving his car when they got a puncture. They have shed loads of money between them but are tight as arsesole's :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Dumyat

we have had separate accounts for 24 years! however we do manage the money jointly if you know what I mean. I pay some DD, he pays more . It works for us, not sure we could manage if all the money was in one big pot. We also pass money back and forward depending on if someone is running short....certainly wouldnt expect £10 to be paid back. My husband leaves his wallet lying in the house (never takes it to work), and we (I) use that as the "kitty"

elaine373

We have just passed our 25th wedding aniversary and have separate bank accounts.We did have a joint one years ago but it just didnt suit us.Husband isnt great with money and we both decided it would be better for me to have control over these.He is happier like this and i sleep better. It doesnt mean we hog our money to ourselves but it just suits us both to have our finances like this.All the bills come out of mine but he contributes adequately to cover these. we give each other money if needed and unless its hundreds we dont pay each other back.This works for us.I know alot of people cannot understand how a married couple can have separate accounts but we prefer it this way.

Alexandria

Well we have been together for 8 years, have 2 children and 2 seperate accounts. I work part time and we worked out the amount that dh needs to transfer to my account to ensure all the bills get covered, I organise the finances mostly because dh is useless at budgeting.
It works for us and we have agreements that things like holidays are split too..I pay for the holiday he pays for the spends.

Emms

Our wages go into our own accounts. We earn about the same amount so we pay the bills etc between us, when I earned less I paid less. We both put aside money each month for food shopping. We pay for our own cars and everything else we want out of our own money. It works well for us this way.

Emma

Mark7799

This topic seems to crop up quite regularly.

OH and I have two joint accounts so that we can operate them if something happens to either of us. We try and split bills according to our earnings - at varying times we have each been the higher earner and we have our own accounts as each of us had to run our own homes before we met.

Also, how can I but OH a present (or vice versa) if we don't have our own money?;)

D4WNO

I live with my partner and we both have our own personal accounts and one shared account. Each payday we both pay in an equal amount into our shared account and rent and all bills come out of this. Anything else we pay for out of our own cash.

At the end of the day the money we earn is our own, I would never expect him to pay for something for me because I couldn't afford it or something, I would save until I could. Neither of us would never let the other go without but luckily we are in a good position anyways