Do you share money?

[BurtsGirl]

I'm really just curious. Do you and your partner share your family's income or is everything separate; money, accounts, savings, etc. Feel free to explain why this works for you.

[mamamelia]

joint accounts.

[mtm]

our main account is joint. I have a separate savings acct with our bef in it. Dh works full-time and I work occassionally if that makes any difference.

[alicewyf]

We share everything. What is his is mine and what is mine is his.

[dancebaraka]

we share everything (well except that cash I got stashed in my undie drawer )

[slsurface]

Yes, all our income and debts are shared. But we came in to our marriage completely debt free, so all our debts have been incurred together and it makes sense that all our income is pooled together too. Because I've been a grad student for much of our married life and working low-paying TAs, it also wouldn't make sense to split up the bills and savings accounts - DH has always made the bulk of the money.

I manage the money and prepare the taxes because DH hates to do this stuff. But we always talk to each other whenever we make purchases over $50.

[sanguine_speed]

We share everything. We have on income-provider and we do our budgeting together. We each get the same amount of spending money, and we use one account to pay bills.

[mosesface]

Originally Posted by sanguine_speed

We share everything. We have on income-provider and we do our budgeting together. We each get the same amount of spending money, and we use one account to pay bills.

same here.

[Caneel]

We both came from backgrounds were money was a source of control in our parent's relationships so from the beginning of living together we decided on a what's mine is yours relationship.

We have equal responsibility in our financial lives. We trust each other not to go crazy and spend lots of money on stupid stuff.

I have friends whose partners will spend thousands on hunting trips or guns or electronics, you name it. If that was going on in our house, it would be a huge problem but because DH and I share to same desires for saving for retirement, standard of living, etc, total sharing works for us.

Thats not to say we don't sometimes question the other's spending habits (his $10 per week lottery habit, my hair color bills, etc.) but overall we are on the same page. Any large purchase is discussed ahead of time.

While DH has historically earned more than me, my income was always contributed greatly to the household. Maybe the near-equality has shaped our money relationship.

[popsicle sticks]

We share everything. Spending outside of the regular budget is agreed upon first.

[Scribe]

Somewhere in between. We each have separate savings, checking, and credit card accounts, but we also have joint checking and savings accounts and a joint mortgage, car title, etc. We each contribute to the joint accounts $X per month (based loosely on our incomes) and pay all joint expenses from that, and whatever is left in our personal accounts is personal money. This system works well for us and I don't plan to change it. I would personally not be comfortable not having my own private financial accounts.

[AuntNi]

We have one joint account. We share absolutely all income and bills, except we both have a little Mad Money separately, so I chose Other.

[SeekingJoy]

Originally Posted by sanguine_speed

We share everything. We have on income-provider and we do our budgeting together. We each get the same amount of spending money, and we use one account to pay bills.

:

[*MamaJen*]

We both contribute a preset amount of money to a joint account each month for bills, savings, groceries and vehicle maintenance. Whatever is left over from our incomes we keep individually and spend as we like. We also buy our own gas, since that's something we can control our usage on to a large degree.
I'm the house accountant responsible for paying all the bills and allocating savings.
This works out well for us because we're not married yet, so there's still a little bit of separation there. We'll probably keep a similar situation in place after we marry because, quite frankly, DP is hopeless with money. He's not an extravagant spender, but he just has no clue how to manage his money. I think it's an ADD thing. He gives a set amount of money that covers all the necessities of the budget and savings. Then he can blow whatever's left on microbrewed beer and model airplanes. It's entirely up to him how he spends his mad money, which is approximately 1/8 of the total household revenue each month. And it's nice because I don't have to care how he spends it, since the important things already are covered.
Oh, and we're getting ready to buy a house together. We're currently living in a house that I own solely. He pays about half the mortgage, which is way below market rate rent.

[EFmom]

Everything is shared, except of course for retirement accounts, but they will be shared upon distribution.

We are a team, a partnership. We're on the same page financially. We have the same financial goals and very similar spending habits. We both earn our income out of the homes, in approximately the same amounts. I see no advantage to doing it any other way for us.

[p.s]

married almost 9 y. everything shared. Except for recent proceeds of property bought and paid off before marriage >> kiddos will inherit.

and I should add, we both are salaried professionals.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by sanguine_speed

We share everything. We have on income-provider and we do our budgeting together. We each get the same amount of spending money, and we use one account to pay bills.

Originally Posted by AuntNi

We have one joint account. We share absolutely all income and bills, except we both have a little Mad Money separately, so I chose Other.

The same as the above but I didn't choose "other" I chose "share everything."

[Ruthiegirl]

He makes all the money, so I hope he shares with me! Yes, we have one account and all of the money is shared. We have lived with a budget for so long that money is one of the easiest pieces of our marriage. Moeny goes to the mortgage, to food, to clothes, to the kids's activities, etc...none of it really feels like 'mine' or 'his'. It is all just part of the family budget. But then, we have been married a loooooong time.

[Himom]

We share everything equally: one joint account, investment/saving accounts in both our names.

[Paxjourney]

We share everything jointly. Purchases of over $150 are talked about prior to buying.