Family Finance

Electric Sheep

Olivia Fancy Quadriplegic wrote: »

I know what money is needed for upcoming expenses etc and what I will need to contribute so if I have the money to contribute to this and buy the thing I want then I can afford it. Our own personal expenses would be higher than the joint ones anyway so knowing what expenses I have myself is usually the deciding factor in what I can/can't afford.



Why is it pathetic? It works for many people us being one example. Its not like you do it after every purchase, you keep note of all spending and every so often tot up who owes who otherwise its just unfair imo. Having a joint account that both contribute to for shared expenses cuts out most of this though which is handy but that join account only gets topped up to cover joint expenses, nothing else. All other spending and all savings are totally seperate.

I couldn't get my head around this "our money" idea some people have at all. My salary is my money, shared expenses are covered and the rest is mine to spend/save as I choose.

What about saving for a house deposit - is this done jointly rather than separately?

Mena

Olivia Fancy Quadriplegic wrote: »

No kids and salaries are fairly similar at the moment though to be honest we don't really know each others exact take home as its not something we really discuss especially as the number varies with increases, bonuses etc. As I said aside from common expenses we basically do out own thing with our money, no common savings and much of our expenses are individual rather than combined.

Different strokes I get that however this to me feels like boyfriend/girlfriend rather than husband/wife. It feels like you’re hedging your bets (the royal you) in this type of scenario. But that’s just my take.

McTigs

My wife is a SAHM so earns nothing in literal terms but I couldn't put a price on it even if I wanted to.

Our understanding of marraige is "What's mine is yours and what yours is mine", it's a team effort.... if you are going to start calculating whose contribution is more valuable or worrying that you are not gettin back as much as you put in then marraige is quite simply not for you.

Alun

McTigs wrote: »

Our understanding of marraige is "What's mine is yours and what yours is mine", it's a team effort.... if you are going to start calculating whose contribution is more valuable or worrying that you are not gettin back as much as you put in then marraige is quite simply not for you.

Absolutely spot on.

Pac1Man

Olivia Fancy Quadriplegic wrote: »

Why is it pathetic?

This is why:

Olivia Fancy Quadriplegic wrote: »

you keep note of all spending and every so often tot up who owes who otherwise its just unfair imo.

It sounds like a partnership of convenience, almost business-like.

John_Rambo

I think everones being a bit hard on poor Nox. He's at a different juncture in life than a lot of us.

Olivia Fancy Quadriplegic wrote: »

No kids and salaries are fairly similar at the moment though to be honest we don't really know each others exact take home as its not something we really discuss especially as the number varies with increases, bonuses etc. As I said aside from common expenses we basically do out own thing with our money, no common savings and much of our expenses are individual rather than combined.

That seems fair enough! Sure the both of you are probably coining it in, no kids, good jobs, nice cars, cracking social life. You're dead right. We were sort of similar when we started out, but when the kids (money eating machines) came along and my wife gave up a couple of days work I had to step up!

So, wages in to each of our own account and then we both put money in to the joint account that looks after everything from the mortgage, savings, school stuff to the food bill. Obviously I put a lot more in because I earn more. Any freelance work I do goes in to the joint account too.

It just means I actually have to save to buy expensive hobby/sports stuff now. Working hard trying to get the kids in to my sport so I can buy stuff for "me and the kids" at the moment!

Lia_lia

^ Agreed with the above. I'd be the same as Nox.

Who knows when will happen if/when we get married and have kids. I can't imagine working part-time so I don't think that would ever happen. But I can see how joint accounts work with married couples that have children.

I'm not against joint accounts, they are extremely handy it's the paying both salaries into it that I don't like. We do have a joint account but as I said it's topped up as required to cover expenses (each contributing the same amount).

_Brian

Olivia Fancy Quadriplegic wrote: »

I'm not against joint accounts, they are extremely handy it's the paying both salaries into it that I don't like. We do have a joint account but as I said it's topped up as required to cover expenses (each contributing the same amount).

I can understand why some couples do this system before getting married.
It’s couples who are married ages who I can’t understand doing it, there really seems to be no trust in spending among some couples.

I’ve seen comments above saying that if the other person saw money in the account then they would just spend it. This couple need to have some serious conversations about trust and responsibility in life.

ron jambo

Separate accounts are like pre nups,

If you think you need it, better have one.