bank account question

Alyssa · Guru

bank account question

3s_a_crowd · Guru

We have a joint. Seeing I dont work I guess thats obvious.
However even if I did wed still have a joint account.

My feelings is if I cant trust him and he cant trust me with money (and we didnt have similar views on it and how it should be spent)
I probably wouldnt have married him. just my opinion though.

I saw suzy orman say once when a guy asked about moving intogether that say you make 60 percent of you and dustins total income.
you would put 60 percent of the household bills money in a joint account and dustin would put in 40 because he makes 40 of your total income.
The rest would be in your own acct. and each person would be spending the same percentage of what they make.

supergrover · Guru

We have a joint account- always have.

Back in Ohio, we had separate tiny savings. We allotted a small amount form our monthly budget to go there for money to do as we pleased with. Our larger savings is combined.

We don't have room in our budget for the extra accounts right now, but I think we will go back to that soon. As we transition to being a SAHM, I want to feel some ownership over some money if that makes sense.

Cuppycake · Guru

We have a joint account.

I think when I start working, I'll get a seperate account just to put a little back for birthdays, etc., but most of my income (by most, I mean like 90%) would still go into the joint, because most of our expenses are joint, lol.

Boots and Bananas · Guru

We have separate accounts right now but may open a joint checking/savings to pay bills and save for a purpose (house/vacation etc).

Sonya · Guru

alll joint.

apies · Guru

alyssa, we used to have joint everything and i wasn't happy with it b/c i felt like i always had to clear every purchase with matt.

now we sort of do what tracy said (i have seen suze orman recommend the same thing). matt and i both put a % of our income into our joint checking and we pay our bills from there. we also use those funds to buy groceries and pay for other household-related expenses. we really don't put enough in there right now b/c we end up spending our "own" money for household stuff every month, but once our housing situation settles down it should be better.

i personally love the idea of having money that is just MINE. i use it to get my hair done, nails done, a massage, buy some shoes and never have to account for that stuff. i love it.

Juanita · Guru

we have a joint account and kenneth has his travel account (which I have access to), the he puts his travel check in. That's what he pays for diesel, hotels, and food while he's gone

as far as our joint account, kenneth obviously puts the majority of the money in it, seeing as how I only work 1 day a week. I don't ever feel like I have to explain why or what I'm spending the money on, and frankly, he never asks. I pay the bills, do the shopping etc., his check is direct deposited and he never knows how much money we have until he asks me.

That being said, neither one of us make huge purchases without the other one knowing about it, but little things, I just buy it on my own and he's fine with it.

-- Edited by Juanita on Thursday 7th of April 2011 11:31:57 AM

-- Edited by Juanita on Thursday 7th of April 2011 11:33:50 AM

Picture-Perfect · Guru

We are joint always have been. We just each spend whatever we want beyond bills etc, if it's a bigger purchase we generally just clear with the other. I pay everything so I always know whats there.

Erin · Guru

supergrover wrote:
We have a joint account- always have.
Back in Ohio, we had separate tiny savings. We allotted a small amount form our monthly budget to go there for money to do as we pleased with. Our larger savings is combined.
We don't have room in our budget for the extra accounts right now, but I think we will go back to that soon. As we transition to being a SAHM, I want to feel some ownership over some money if that makes sense.

this exactly.

CoffeeQueen · Guru

we actually have separate accounts, but we are on both the accounts. I pay certain bills, and so does he. I can use his income money as needed with the debit card, but he does not touch my account at all. I like having my own account and he never even looks at it or what I do with it.

Alyssa · Guru

ok thanks. this is helpful.

I think we are going to have a joint checking and joint savings and I'm going to keep my own savings account as well. I'm not sure how much I'll actually contribute to it--we need to figure out the numbers--but at least I'll feel like I have something that is mine.

I feel like I got screwed a bit when EJ and I got divorced so I'm paranoid. Plus I don't want to feel like Dustin is paying for my trip to NY with Ethan. Not that he would say anything or care, it's all me.

(I'm also a little nervous about what he's going to say when he see just how much I spend on lunch each week. Maybe that will force me to start bringing...)

Supafly · Guru

We have all joint accounts, aside from our roth accounts, his work retirement money and my old work retirement. But for the most part, checking, savings and investment accounts are all joint.

We have never had any problems. But then again, Bill only makes the money. He has no idea where it goes or how it gets there. It gets put in, and I take it out. He doesn't shop for much, and what he does buy goes onto the Discover I added him onto, so I get the bill. He doesn't pay the bills or do the taxes, or really anything else financial. He helps with the budget, but leaves it up to me to stick to it...which I sorta try and do.

But he knows basically how much I spend. Like he knows how much my salon costs and was the one who figured out it would be cheaper for me to just get my hair colored there rather than do it at home, which surprised me. IDK if he added tip though, lol. We don't buy big things on our own, and he rarely ever gives me grief about buying stuff.

He is a PITA about some things though. Like I want a new camera and have for a long time. He says that is dumb because I have a camera. But I want a SLR camera-not the same thing. Anyway, he does not want to spend the money to buy one, so I am saving up reward points to buy it. On one of my cards he is not on. So when I buy it, he can't bitch.

This is why his credit is not as good as mine! The one card he uses most is actually my card, I just added him on. He has one other credit card that is his, but he rarely uses it, and then forgets to give me the bill, so it has been late a couple of times.

Basically, he earns it and I spend it. That has pretty much always been the way for us, and it works fine. Even after I quit working, we never had issues with it being "his" money or anything, on my side or his.

crystal · Guru

When I was working we had separate accounts and we each were responsible for a part of the shared bills and then we each paid our own cell phone, car, ect.

Now, we have a joint account (since I don't work), but we still have our separate accounts too. We each get an allowance every month that goes into our own accounts and we can do whatever we want with it. Anything that we want to buy that isn't part of that we have to agree on (big purchases, i mean).

Efe is a cheap ass, so I love having my own money that I can buy whatever I want with. He rolls his eyes at every single purchase I make, so I like knowing that he doesn't have a say in it if it came from my allowance money.

-- Edited by crystal on Thursday 7th of April 2011 02:09:36 PM

Jo · Guru

apies wrote:

alyssa, we used to have joint everything and i wasn't happy with it b/c i felt like i always had to clear every purchase with matt.

now we sort of do what tracy said (i have seen suze orman recommend the same thing). matt and i both put a % of our income into our joint checking and we pay our bills from there. we also use those funds to buy groceries and pay for other household-related expenses. we really don't put enough in there right now b/c we end up spending our "own" money for household stuff every month, but once our housing situation settles down it should be better.

i personally love the idea of having money that is just MINE. i use it to get my hair done, nails done, a massage, buy some shoes and never have to account for that stuff. i love it.

if you don't mind me asking, april, what did you guys do when you were SAHM?

Sunshine · Guru

We have a joint checking account that was actually mine in college, and he has a separate savings account (that was his in college) that I always have the balance of and we can transfer money from there to the primary account if things get tight (which they often do since our renters are late most months with the payment for the NC house, grrr).

I never really thought about losing the sense of having "my" money - like Laura, I do almost all of the banking/bookkeeping/bill paying (he pays his student loan and one credit card; I do the rest). We both always know what the other is spending and it never feels like a sort of scrutiny.

If I want something that's under $20, or he does, we just get it -- neither of us are so frivolous that that happens often enough to make an impact on our bottom line at the end of the month. We do try to let each other know about even that stuff, because there was a time not so long ago when we made so little that $10 could hurt us.

As a SAHM, I don't feel guilty (anymore) about spending "his" money...he might make it, but I'm the CFO and I more than "earn" my half or whatever, taking care of the kids and the household! I think it's almost like a boon for our relationship, to be held accountable (but not in a mean way) and to have our spending synchronized in a way that works for us. It keeps both of us from wandering too far afield budget-wise or developing expensive habits, which saves us stress in the long run. Everyone is different though!

apies · Guru

Jo wrote:
apies wrote:

alyssa, we used to have joint everything and i wasn't happy with it b/c i felt like i always had to clear every purchase with matt.

now we sort of do what tracy said (i have seen suze orman recommend the same thing). matt and i both put a % of our income into our joint checking and we pay our bills from there. we also use those funds to buy groceries and pay for other household-related expenses. we really don't put enough in there right now b/c we end up spending our "own" money for household stuff every month, but once our housing situation settles down it should be better.

i personally love the idea of having money that is just MINE. i use it to get my hair done, nails done, a massage, buy some shoes and never have to account for that stuff. i love it.

if you don't mind me asking, april, what did you guys do when you were SAHM?

we had one account. it sucked and made me miserable.

looking back, i wish we had set up an 'allowance' system like what crystal was saying. i would have wanted my own money i didn't have to "clear" with matt. he never tells me not to buy something or spend something, but it just sucked to say, "i'd like to get a pedi this weekend. do we have the money for that?" blah.

Jo · Guru

apies wrote:

Jo wrote:
apies wrote:

alyssa, we used to have joint everything and i wasn't happy with it b/c i felt like i always had to clear every purchase with matt.

now we sort of do what tracy said (i have seen suze orman recommend the same thing). matt and i both put a % of our income into our joint checking and we pay our bills from there. we also use those funds to buy groceries and pay for other household-related expenses. we really don't put enough in there right now b/c we end up spending our "own" money for household stuff every month, but once our housing situation settles down it should be better.

i personally love the idea of having money that is just MINE. i use it to get my hair done, nails done, a massage, buy some shoes and never have to account for that stuff. i love it.

if you don't mind me asking, april, what did you guys do when you were SAHM?

we had one account. it sucked and made me miserable.
looking back, i wish we had set up an 'allowance' system like what crystal was saying. i would have wanted my own money i didn't have to "clear" with matt. he never tells me not to buy something or spend something, but it just sucked to say, "i'd like to get a pedi this weekend. do we have the money for that?" blah.

thanks...yeah, I know what you mean

Dom doesn't have a problem with me spending, but I still feel guilty. In fact, he has to remind me it's okay if I want to go buy some new running shoes...or new underwear, lol!

3s_a_crowd · Guru

I remember when we first got married I spent a ton and never cleared it with dh. ( Well he was in Iraq so I guess it was a little different).

Then I went through a phase where I never spent anything and felt guilty.

Now I spend whatever and just tell him later. I always know whats in the account and rarely buy things for me it might be 10 dollars here or there. If I want something over 50 bucks I usually ask first. He never randomly buy things either.

4kids5yr · Newbie

hello everyone Im new to this site