what gets paid from joint account

nomoneymoreproblems

Hi 

I'm looking to open a joint account with my husband. 

I earn the same every single month, theirs varies (sometimes earns the same as me but can earn up to £400 more. 

Do you think the joint account should cover their gym membership? or their car which is on HP (he uses daily but we if we go out together its always his car used as its bigger - I have my own car that is owned outright). what about each of our petrol bills? mine is £40 a month his is £270

I'm not sure 

just would like opinions please 

Mark_d

My partner and I prefer to keep our money separate.  All bills and joint spending goes from my account, then monthly my partner transfers me (standing order) an agreed amount to cover roughly half of the joint expenses.

Shared expenses is made up of mortgage, broadband, TV licence, water, home insurance, gas/elec, groceries/household/medicines, boiler cover.

My partner does not pay towards my gym membership or my car in any way, even though I'm the only one with a car.

We've decided against having a joint account because even though it makes some thing simpler, to ensure fairness you need to monitor how much you husband pays in compared to how much he spends on himself. Does you husband use money from the joint account to buy your birthday presents?  Can he use the joint account to buy himself a £200 toothbrush when you think a £100 toothbrush is just as good?

x_raphael_xx

I don't have a joint account either, I tell my partner how much he needs to pay me each month for joint bills and he pays it.
Personal things, like gym, car, mobile phones etc, we pay ourselves.

If you do get a joint account, I would keep it only for things you use together, bills, rent etc. And both agree to pay the same amount into it each month. I wouldn't get my wages paid into it, but get them paid into a personal account and transfer whats needed each month.

p00hsticks

x_raphael_xx said:

If you do get a joint account, I would keep it only for things you use together, bills, rent etc. And both agree to pay the same amount into it each month. I wouldn't get my wages paid into it, but get them paid into a personal account and transfer whats needed each month.

this is the way we work as well, with the exception that I pay in a bit more each month that the OH as I am a higher earner

northwalesd

Ours pays:

Council tax
Water rates
Electric/gas
Broadband/home phone
TV licence
Caravan insurance

There are a couple of other bills that we pay annually (e.g. house insurance) but that comes out of another account. Food/groceries is joint but I run that through my Chase account.

I pay for any streaming services we have (Amazon Prime, Disney) either directly or via freebie from current account.

Anything else, cars/insurance/fuel, mobile phones etc. we pay from our own accounts.

Jami74

Our joint account covers rent, council tax, water, electric, internet and we both put in a fixed amount each month to cover the bills (higher earner pays more). Cars, memberships, hairdressers etc come out of personal accounts.

kimwp

I think it depends what you consider to be joint expenses. Commuting costs could be considered a household expense as it's essential to get to work, so under that, would be split fairly (IE in proportion to income).

Both partners could have hobbies that bring them equal enjoyment, but one hobby cost a lot more. Some people would consider that both hobbies get paid for from the joint account, others would say that each pays for their own hobbies.

Personally I think - add up income, deduct all essentials, put money to savings, split the remainder. 

powerspowers

We pay mortgage, council tax, utilities, food, odd things like window cleaner and then have joint savings and mortgage overpayment coming from the joint account. We sometimes put car expenses on there or pay them 50/50. 

We contribute equal amounts. He earns 20% more than me but has child maintenance to pay plus commuting costs. I save extra towards my pension so we end up with similar personal income left over. 

Gym memberships, mobile, clothes, haircuts charity donations, meals out etc all come from personal spends. 

Wyndham

I have an old fashioned attitude to this, but when we got married (30 years and one week ago!) we combined our finances. 

You, of course, may not be ready for that. But it has made it easier for us - though you do need a) similar attitudes to spending and saving and b) a lot of trust!

If I had a new partner now, I don't think I'd rush into it in the same way. I think joint finances would be things that were shared e.g. mortgage/rent, bills etc. If one or other wanted gym membership, that feels to me like a more personal expense. Same with cars - if you are sharing one you should both pay towards it, but if you have one which is 'theirs' or 'yours' then it's down to the individual concerned to fund it.

Also worth saying that through the 30 years we've had periods where he has earned more than me, and periods where I have earned more than him. No children - which certainly makes a difference!

Sea_Shell

Wyndham said:

I have an old fashioned attitude to this, but when we got married (30 years and one week ago!) we combined our finances. 

You, of course, may not be ready for that. But it has made it easier for us - though you do need a) similar attitudes to spending and saving and b) a lot of trust!

If I had a new partner now, I don't think I'd rush into it in the same way. I think joint finances would be things that were shared e.g. mortgage/rent, bills etc. If one or other wanted gym membership, that feels to me like a more personal expense. Same with cars - if you are sharing one you should both pay towards it, but if you have one which is 'theirs' or 'yours' then it's down to the individual concerned to fund it.

Also worth saying that through the 30 years we've had periods where he has earned more than me, and periods where I have earned more than him. No children - which certainly makes a difference!

I agree with most of what you say.   We are "all in" and don't have "personal spends", but that's just how we've been for over 30 years!!

On the point about a "shared" car.   Do you mean if you both drive it, or if it is the only family car?    I think a non-driver, who benefits from that family car, should pay their share of all the running costs, especially if that enables the owner to get to work, earn and pay the bills.   That shouldn't be "your car, your problem" IMO.

Wyndham

Sea_Shell said:

Wyndham said:

I have an old fashioned attitude to this, but when we got married (30 years and one week ago!) we combined our finances. 

You, of course, may not be ready for that. But it has made it easier for us - though you do need a) similar attitudes to spending and saving and b) a lot of trust!

If I had a new partner now, I don't think I'd rush into it in the same way. I think joint finances would be things that were shared e.g. mortgage/rent, bills etc. If one or other wanted gym membership, that feels to me like a more personal expense. Same with cars - if you are sharing one you should both pay towards it, but if you have one which is 'theirs' or 'yours' then it's down to the individual concerned to fund it.

Also worth saying that through the 30 years we've had periods where he has earned more than me, and periods where I have earned more than him. No children - which certainly makes a difference!

I agree with most of what you say.   We are "all in" and don't have "personal spends", but that's just how we've been for over 30 years!!

On the point about a "shared" car.   Do you mean if you both drive it, or if it is the only family car?    I think a non-driver, who benefits from that family car, should pay their share of all the running costs, especially if that enables the owner to get to work, earn and pay the bills.   That shouldn't be "your car, your problem" IMO.

Interesting thoughts about the car. I can only really explain how we've done it. We've mostly only ever had one car. As we got the first car the week before we got married, and hence a week before I was going to change my name, we put it in his name at that point. But it was very much 'ours'. The reality is that I have always been the one who sorts out the insurance, ensures it has its MOT, is serviced, taxed etc.

At one point we did have two cars, one of which was bigger and used as the 'family' car, the other was then used by me to (mostly) get to work. Again, I somehow seemed to then be sorting out tax, insurance etc for two cars... hmmmm! I may not be doing this right

To go back to your point about a shared car, I think I meant that if there was one car, then yes, it's a shared expense if it's used as a 'family' car, irrespective of the number of actual drivers. But if you have a car each, and one partner has a porsche while the other has a fiesta, then I think there are discussions to be had. (To be clear, I have no problem with fiestas, just using it as an example here!)

Again, in my own case, we both drive, and have always both been named drivers for any car we've had - even though he drove the one which was 'mine' about twice! We've also never bought a car on finance, which again I think influences the decisions.

But each couple needs to work it out to suit them. OP - good luck, have some sensible, grown up discussions, and I hope you find your own way to resolve this for you.