Couples: How do you handle your finances/budgeting?

[TN_Vixen]

When I was married my husband and I both combined our checks, paid the bills first, budgeted the rest of the money and had a specific amount allowed to each of us to spend for 2 weeks. This worked very well for us, however.. my parents have always had separate accounts for their money. Mom had her charge card accounts, Dad had his. Mom paid for groceries and other household things, Dad paid the mortgage. It was all separated and divided. Only problem is that Dad made 4X the $$ my Mom did and, of course, this grew into a huge issue.

If I were to get married again, I don't think I could go back to merging both paychecks into one account again. I think I would have to keep mine separate and divy up who's responsible for what.

Money is the #1 thing couples fight about.

How does your household handle the finances?

 

[Busty]

Everything has always gone into one big pot here. Budgeting - well I have to admit neither one of us is great at it but we're not lacking for anything. I've never questioned a purchase he's made and he hasn't questioned any of mine. The only fights we have about money is when we miscalculate and are in overdraft - but then we have no one to blame but ourselves.

 

[*bratcat*]

 

[Shylady]

We pool our money cause we are a partnership. We go over the bills together and then I pay them.

 

[stargazer76]

We pool our money, and I handle all the budgeting and bill-paying. If there's an issue, such as too much month and not enough money, we'll discuss it before making a decision, but I usually come to the table with a few options first. We never make any big purchases without discussing it first, but neither of us questions the other's purchases. I always tease my husband that I wear the pants in the family, but really we complement each other very well. His strengths are in other areas, so I let him take care of those things, and he lets me take care of the financial things.

 

[Andra_Jenny]

I manage it

She spends it!

Loves 4-letter words

SALE SAVE ONLY...


Will honest-to-god spend $200 on crap that we will never, ever use, wear, or eat, because it was 50% off!

You know how much junk I gotta take back to Walmart each week. The managers all know me and start giggling when they see me and my armload of merchandise and receipts!

 

[Sensua]

Money is the #1 thing couples fight about.

How does your household handle the finances?

Money is POWER and in a relationship, control can usually be melted down to money. That is ONE of the reasons why it causes so many fights. Those fights are usually about who controls what... An let's face it, if you look far enough, everyone has made a frivolous, useless, or otherwise stupid purchase at some time or another. Lot's of fodder for the cannons.....

We have only joint accounts. Good credit, savings, and a healthy retirement account...we decided together in which order to fund these things.... We have NEVER told the other not to buy something they wanted...and we don't predict monthly expenses with a budget. But, we do look over our personal plan together from time to time and think about how to spend/invest in the future.

 

[beckbabe]

All the money is mine, if my husband makes it, it's still mine. He was in charge of the finances for 3 months when we first got married, that was enough. I make it all work out nicely, and he still gets whatever he wants (read: NASCAR racing) so it's a happy arrangement.

 

[willywanker]

How does your household handle the finances?

Poorly

 

[Ksss]

I handled all of the finances, although, our paychecks went to pay our separate bills. I paid all of the household bills and he paid for his toys. He could never balance a checkbook and I got tired of trying to balance his checkbook, so we cancelled his account out. Credit cards were all in my name, but any loans were joint accounts.

 

[Cheyenne]

I'm not married, and I always thought if I ever did get married that there would be only joint accounts. Marriage is a partnership, right? That's true until divorce comes around. I'm watching someone close to me go through the divorce from hell.
Her husband closed the joint account and took all the money to start the war. There's a lot more, but the most important thing to remember is that if both of your names are on the account, either of you can spend all of it without the other's permission. In a divorce, that is disaster while you are waiting for the court to sort out and decide your life for you.

If I ever got married now, I'd have a prenup and I'd keep separate accounts for assets held prior to marriage. It is the practical approach. I might still use a joint account for every day expenses, but the balance would never be that high so as to make the account an issue.

 

[indyweasel]

Re: Re: Couples: How do you handle your finances/budgeting?

Poorly

I second that..

to be honest, it isnt that bad, all the money goes into a joint account and then everything is paid for from there. Sometimes we get into 'discussions' regarding wanting to buy something.. but most of the time each person gets what they want.

 

[Ambrosious]

I work the streets, she takes her cut. Well, she does provide protection for me.