Since I always hear and read that money is the #1 issue or topic that married couples fight about and is the leading cause of divorce, I am always trying to come up with a good 'system' whwn it comes to $$$ between FH and I. Me and fh live together and are paying for the weddign on our own. Ofcourse, we have other financial responsilbiities like out bills and stuff. I'm thinking we need a new money 'system' so that we can both feel like we're helping out the same so that it's fair. We've tried two different ways and one he didnt like and th other I didnt like. I need some help ladies!! lol. How do you and FH handle all of this? I need some suggestions and am open to anything at this point. I've heard one couple puts away one partner's check away in saving while the other partner just pays the bills. or the same % is put in the saving no matter what each person makes. Also, I've heard some couples have all these accounts, like , mine, yours, ours, and the wedding account. But to me, this sounds like too many accounts open. lol I don't know, Any help ot suggestions, or success stories are appreciated!!!
AlisonMZ14
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the best thing to do is go to a financial planner it can be only a one time thing... they will go over your months incomes, loans and bills and help you plan for saving FH and i are planning to do this sometimes before the wedding
NY2009
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Read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover; it's a great book! It's all about getting out of debt and staying out of debt. Great budget tips and how to set up a household budget.
tammi2308
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Posted by AlisonMZ14
the best thing to do is go to a financial planner it can be only a one time thing... they will go over your months incomes, loans and bills and help you plan for saving FH and i are planning to do this sometimes before the wedding
I was seriuosly thinking about this as well. I'll have to see what fh thinks and how much it would cost. I'm sure it's worth it.
tammi2308
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Posted by NY2009
Read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover; it's a great book! It's all about getting out of debt and staying out of debt. Great budget tips and how to set up a household budget.
Budget tips are always good, I'll check it out.
chicky724
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Right now FH has been paying for 90% of everything (the only thing I pay is cable) and we're using my checks towards our savings.
It's been working out so far but we'll see!
Bride908
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We use my checks to pay all the bills and then we both get the same amount of spending money for the month from it. We put all of his checks in the savings account.
geegee827
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FH and I are using the 'live off one salary' budget. I make more so I pay the living expenses and am basically paying for the wedding.
FH puts about 90% of his salary into the house savings account. The other 10% is split between his daily living expenses (gas, lunch, etc.) and his fun money.
I am paying the bills and putting about 90% of the reamining money into our 'wedding' account. The other 10% is for my fun $$, gas, lunch, etc.
We both know (after quite a few arguments) that we will probably have to dip into the 'house' account for the wedding, but hopefully we won't deplete it by too much.
After the wedding, we will have a 'yours' 'mine' and 'house' system. We will be splitting housing and living expenses based on the % of our total income. In other words, if my income is 60% of the our income, I will pay 60% of the expenses and he will pay 40%.
Yes, it's complicated, but we were having a hard time figuring it out and so far, we both seem happy with this plan. We are both so used to having our 'own' money that we needed a compromise plan.
The bottom line is that you have to find something that works for you two as a couple.
tammi2308
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Posted by geegee827
FH and I are using the 'live off one salary' budget. I make more so I pay the living expenses and am basically paying for the wedding.
FH puts about 90% of his salary into the house savings account. The other 10% is split between his daily living expenses (gas, lunch, etc.) and his fun money.
I am paying the bills and putting about 90% of the reamining money into our 'wedding' account. The other 10% is for my fun $$, gas, lunch, etc.
We both know (after quite a few arguments) that we will probably have to dip into the 'house' account for the wedding, but hopefully we won't deplete it by too much.
After the wedding, we will have a 'yours' 'mine' and 'house' system. We will be splitting housing and living expenses based on the % of our total income. In other words, if my income is 60% of the our income, I will pay 60% of the expenses and he will pay 40%.
Yes, it's complicated, but we were having a hard time figuring it out and so far, we both seem happy with this plan. We are both so used to having our 'own' money that we needed a compromise plan.
You're right, the bottom line is to find something that works for both of you. We were also so used to spending our own $$$ and not being o a budget. Hopefully, we can find a balance.
The bottom line is that you have to find something that works for you two as a couple.
tammi2308
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You're right, the bottom line is to find something that works for both of you. We were also so used to spending our own $$$ and not being o a budget. Hopefully, we can find a balance.
geegee827
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The budgeting part is the worst. It definitely takes a lot of compromise because things he thinks are important, I dont and vice versa. That's why we have a 10% rule. 10% of our money is our money alone that we can use for whatever we want no questions asked. As the wedding gets closer and we owe more $$ that percentage may change, but right now it works for us.
I think the key is to be flexible with it and realize that if you make a budget today, it may have to change in 6 months. We've learned it can't be set in stone.
AlisonMZ14
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Posted by tammi2308 I was seriuosly thinking about this as well. I'll have to see what fh thinks and how much it would cost. I'm sure it's worth it.
that was my first reaction when FH brought up the idea of doing it but its actually not that much but then he said think about all the money we are spending on a wedding and thats for one day why not pay someone to help you plan out your life
DonnaPWhite1124
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We've been doing it the same way for 3 years now. We pool our money together when we need something or when saving for something big like a wedding or a car etc.
Other than that, we have our own money and own savings and split our rent, bills, and misc down the middle.
On the other hand, my money is his and vice versa. We have had maybe 3 fights in total about money. It works best this way for us.
bklynbride09
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Re: Money question
You have to find a system that works for you, but here's what I found to be most helpful in our case, since we live together as well.
Since we both have similar income, we each put an equal amount of into our joint 'household' account every month. The amount is one we figured would be a little more than enough to cover all the bills and have some extra left over for things like going out to dinner once in a while or other nights out together. Then we each have our own accounts too. (I would ALWAYS suggest you keep an account in your name only even if its just a small account for shopping or other things that you might want one day).
Now that we have to pay for the wedding as well, we set up a savings account for this (they're so easy to open online nowadays) so that we can each contribute equally to that expense too.
Hope that helps!
Future Mrs Roo
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We split all bills 50/50 with a joint account and we have our own accounts too.
Kristina2009
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I think our system would not work for most but I will share.
We each have our own accounts and one joint account. The joint account has our wedding money in it which is was mostly funded by me. FH is paying (not out of that account) for our photog and honeymoon because we are splurging more than I would like there and these were the two things he cared most about .
I also pay our rent (I lived in a two bedroom and he moved in with me), utilities and cable. He only pays for our garage. He has been saving most of his salary since I cover a lot. Honestly, many would think I am crazy but I have made good investment/savings choices so I had money put aside and I also make double what FH does right now (although that may not be teh case for long)so I wanted him to have a chance to save money (he was very spendy pre-engagement ad teh ring was a big dent) and bring that money into our marriage or for a downpayment. When we are married we will share everything going forward (although we may kee our seperate account and use any money in there towards a downpayment).
I believe in sharing everything once you are married and not being controlling of each others spending while still making big spending decisions together. Money is a very hard topic so I would be careful when and how you address it and make sure you are both on the same page as a couple..
caligirl87
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We put all of our money together and have an excel spreadsheet on where the money goes. The remaining money we can make purchases with, but anything over a certain $ amount (which we agreed upon in advance) we check with each other. It's worked well for us.
