Re: Finance question!

i agree that it is going to be a little (ok, VERY) weird to not be able to just buy whatever i want....i've actually gone on quite a shopping spree lately because i want to 'get it out of my system' before i get married...he he he

but, i also think that we will be a team once we get married and we will have different goals, than i do now...i.e. instead of buying a new gucci bag i can't live without, i will have to save that money to buy a home, etc...sooo, i will have to learn to be more responsible....

i think we will have a joint account but with the understanding that w can still 'treat' ourseleves every now and then

Re: ABC7077

We have one joint savings (where we put all of our major money), and one joint checking. We have also agreed that we need our own spending money so we each opened up accounts at our credit unions and have a little money taken out of our checks before they come home. It seems to be working so far.

Just to add... we did the same thing as Jennbaby. We each kept our own bank accounts and had one joint for wedding expenses. That money was never touched unless it was for the wedding. It worked out well because when it came time to pay for everything, we already had the money saved. So really, we did not hav eto go into debt for our wedding.

Re: ABC7077

this is horrible to post on a wedding board...but I just remembered a story....

my 2 friends and one friend's sister went on vacation...the sister was going through a divorce and needed to get away...well her ex drove her to our apartment...noticed that she wasn't wearing her wedding band...and freaked out...when we got to our destination she went to take money out and the bastard cleaned out their joint account...

now I'm not saying that this will happen to any of us...but just good to have in the back of your head...regarding joint and separate accounts...

Re: ABC7077

Erica, I think you bring up an important point. As much as everyone on this board loves their FH/husbands divorce is a reality in our world. Women, especially, can be financially ruined when a marriage ends.
I saw what happens to women, first hand, when they go thru a divorce and the husband controlled all of the money. I would never allow that to happen to me. A women should always have her own credit card and credit history. Also, you should have free access to ALL bank accounts, and read the statements every month. Do not let someone 'invest' your money without knowing where it is going and why.
Never sign over your home or savings to anyone and always hire your own lawyer to read any documents that your husband gives you to sign pretaining to large sums of money you many have. I know women whose husbands took out 2nd mortages on their homes without their consent and they didn't even know about it until it was too late. So moral of the story- be smart, you do not have to pay the bills yourself every month, but know what is going on with the money, property and credit in your life.

Re: Finance question!

I didn't find it difficult at all. We got engaged in April '01 and we combined our savings accounts in Mar '02. We both have our own checking accounts which we will combine after we get married.

Re: Finance question!

We have joint accounts that we have used for the wedding and have maintained personal accounts and we are each responsible for paying certain house bills. After the wedding we plan to use these accounts as our 'operating account' for all the house bills and savings.

I think its important to maintain seperate accounts for personal spending or even to save for surprises.

And this is morbid, but I remember when my father passed away my mother thought their joint account would be frozen for a time and was worried about some of the checks she wrote to cover the funeral.