Finances in Marriage

We have a joint checking account for our daughter's expenses and joint savings for the wedding. FH owns the condo we live in so he takes care of house and car bills and i take care of family bills. We both maintain individual accounts and it works for us. I don't know what he spent out with the boys and he doesn't know how much I spent at Kohl's! But all big purchases and expenses are discussed first - including wedding details!

We have a joint account and then each of us have our own personal account.

We put our paychecks in the joint account and we each get 100 a week for expenses ie. gas, food.

BUT if we need anything we talk to each other and see if we really need that expense.

It can sometimes be hard to NOT splurge BUT with saving for a house and a wedding we soon realized what is a necessity and what is just a want...

Good luck on what ever works for you guys!!!!

I agree that it's a totally personal decision.

We will have joint accounts for all the joint expenses (which is the majority of things: home, car, insurance, bills, etc).

We'll also maintain separate accounts to have some money on our own in case we'd like to buy something for the other or for ourselves.

We hope to avoid any arguments where one of us is upset with the other for spending money 'frivolously' - this way we can spend it or save it as we like, but we'll still have all our life expenses (and any big purchases) handled jointly.

we've been married almost 2 years, and we do what your book suggested. we created joint checking and savings accounts, which we use for food, house bills, house repairs, 'famiy' stuff
BUT, we each have our own checking and savings accounts still as well. this just helps cut down on some of the petty arguments over whether i want to buy a new shirt and he wants to buy some DVDs, etc, or when we want to buy each other gifts. it depends one your personalities. DH and i are both a little selfish sometimes, LOL so we like each having money thats just ours. it works out for us, but like other people have said- you'll figure out what works best for both of you

ALSO- i agree with maybe looking into a prenup, if the house was a gift to you from your mom- you want to make sure thats protected if anything happens...

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Posted by Mssissy

We have a house checking account and we each have our own accounts.

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Same with us! It works out great!

We have been living together for 3 years, and bought a house together 6 months ago. We tried having joint checking and savings and then our own checking and savings (so 6 accounts total) and it just got to the point where the amount we were contributing to personal accounts was so small because most of it went to the mortgage and monthly expenses. Plus, it just got to be a hassle for us to manage all of the accounts so we decided to just have 1 joint checking and 1 joint savings.

To be honest, it's working much better for us than we expected. I'm a spender and he's a saver, so we thought we'd fight a lot more, but I've become more responsible over the years, and now that it's 'our' money I'm less likely to make my daily trips to Ann Taylor We just discuss large purchases and go over the bills each month. If one of us is spending to much, we tone it down the next month.

But this is just what works for us. We also needed to discuss what happens if things don't turn out as we planned. I'm a firm believer of never say never, because you just don't know. We're still not doing a prenup, but we both needed to understand that things could get messy in the event things don't work out.

This decision also depends on how you both handle money.

FH and I have an ING account for wedding and house savings but we have our own seperate checking accts. I have access to his acct. I pay the bills b/c he is very frivolous w/ money. He gets an 'allowance' weekly plus he keeps a credit card for emergencies and this is fine w/ him. This may sound a bit extreme for some, but he would easily spend $200 a week on food and nonsense. We decided this would be our system and it works well for us.

I just pay certain bills out of his acct. and certain ones out of mine. (I do this online, this makes it easier to keep track of everything.)

FH is not very involved with the finances. Obviously we discuss any large purchases.

As far as your house goes, personally, I would not put his name on the deed until after a couple of years of marriage. Your Mom has put a lot into it w/ the down payment & paying the mortgage. You just want to make sure if anything happens, the house stays w/ you since this gift is from her to you.

Good Luck!

Honestly, all though alot of marriages last a lifetime, some don't, JMO. However, since you're mom gave you the down-payment for the house & continues to pay the mortgage, I would not [for a while] put you're FH's name on the mortage.

Additionally, it is VERY hard balancing finances and both paychecks. I too, am going to school and receiving unemployment, but no matter HOW much $ the 2 people make combined, its never enough! There's so much stuff to pay for - your bills, his bills, your bills together, ultities, food, and add a mortgage & taxes and home owners insurance...Its TOUGH, theres no question about that. A bill comes in the mail every day and it STINKS! Basically, I, as the wife, handle all the checks and bills. My DH gives me the $ and I deposited it into my checking account which is soley in mine name. There really isn't a point in having him be on the checking account if he doesn't do the bills nor if he doesn't write a check. Additionally, I have my own savings account in which I have 'my own' money in, and his has his checking even though he never uses it, and then we have a joint savings account together.....Thats just how we do it. Some utlities come in his name & some come in my name, same w/ the credit cards, etc. Its hard, but the procedures and finances and my way of handling them work fine. Personally, girls are the smarter species,....so I'd feel better if I do them [the bills] because least I know there will be suffient funds in the checking account and a check won't bounce, and least I know the bills will be paid & paid on time!

HOPE THAT HELPS!
good luck!!!