This has probably been asked before and I apologize if I'm beating a dead horse, but another post this morning had me thinking. In your household is it his money/your money or is it 'our' money?
I understand arguments for both sides, just wanted to get a general consensus.
thanks
we have separate accts, simply because we did before we got married and both of our paychecks were direct deposited and it seemed easier at the time. We consider it both "our" money, though, and we both have access to each other's accts.
We have Joint, then we each have our own separate account. 90% of what we each make goes into the join and the rest is our spending money. All bills (both mine and his) come out of the joint account. But if we need that 10% to be used it gets transferred to the joint account.
Our money. Always has been. I brought more $$ to the marriage than he did, but he's made far more than me in our 17 years of marriage. We have joint accounts and actually have no individual accounts at all. We file taxes together. Legally, we are one financial entity. He has never once uttered the words "It's my money...". If he did, I'd hand him a hefty invoice for all the work I do (and, trust me, he probably couldn't afford it). But we don't really think like that and don't really understand why the finances would be kept separate in a solid marriage. But that's just me...
Our money...and I'm a sahm. Its always been that way for us.
Everything is joint for us pretty much. I do have a separate account at the credit union that I try to put some money in whenever I can. My parents do everything separately which I've always thought was kind of weird, but it works for them.
We had our own accounts and a joint account. When my hubby got stuck at the airport because he had no $ in his account (I transfered it all to mine to pay the bills) and he had no access to mine, we put his name on my account. That is the account we use for everything. We have an account at a local bank that we are both on and we use that for our car loans and cashing checks. He still has his own account at another bank, that I have full access to. We keep that because it gives us benefits on some things. I don't want my name on that account though - I really dislike the bank :). However, I always joke with my hubby that "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine." Because I handle the finances, I know what is going on with every penny.
Our money. Well actually their money, swim team, soccer, fencing, college apps, SAT fees, food for three teens/preteens, band classes, piano lessons, another pair of freaking shoes for a 10 year old, another gallon of milk, and another, sigh
He makes the paycheck, I pay the bills. They get the benefits. :o)
Everything goes into one pot. I handle the finances, my husband sucks at it. Really, I was so sick of all the late charges because he couldn't keep it straight. :) Anyway, I am a stay at home mom now, but have only been that way for a couple years. I still sometimes find it hard to spend money on myself when I didn't earn it. (Yeah, I know I earn it by raising our child, but when you've worked full time for 18 years...I don't know it seem different)
But, I also have to remind myself. I worked two jobs to pay all of his bills (BEFORE we were married) so he could finish school. I also worked at jobs I hated so he could go to Chiropractic college. I worked full time right after my daughter was born and somehow kept us afloat when his practice failed.
Now he has a good job and can provide for us, which makes him happy. I can raise my own child, that makes me happy. But, when I spend a little money for a trip or something for myself, I still feel like I am spending his money. Weird huh?
It is my money and our money. I have encouraged my DH to get his own account, but he doesn't want to.
I insisted on my own account for several reasons. Mainly, because I am a woman and needed to have my own line of credit and income incase anything ever happened to DH. I couldn't have all the credit in his name. I also make more money than my DH. I have personal assets from inheritance that do not apple to joint assets.
Just personal preference, I guess.
My check goes into my acct. His check goes into his acct. He takes care of the "bills" and my check covers necessities, ie groceries, gas, kids stuff, etc. We both have access to eachothers accounts but we rarely ever need to. I live and spend on my budget based off my paycheck and he does the same.
I am a spender and my husband is a saver - so this setup works best for us. I would NEVER want to have full access (daily access) to his acct b/c we would be soooo broke. If it wasn't for him we would have no savings. :)
It's all "our money" and always has been. Both when I was working and now that I'm laid off. To me, that's what being in a marriage is all about - the teamwork and us-factor, but to each his own I suppose.
We have a few accounts and while our names our on eacthothers accounts and we have access to one another's money, I pretty much use one account based on my pay and he does the same. I am the saver and he holds me to it...He pays the majority of the bills because his income is definitely more than mine. Big expenses are discussed and decided upon before they happen.
We've been married for over 11 years now and it has always been "our money". We have one joint checking and one joint savings. We both work full time and always have. Pretty much everything in our life is 50/50......from taking care of household chores to taking care of our two kids. It works very well for us. =0) Oh! And I am the financial planner of the house. I'm much better at paying all the bills and keeping tabs on everything financial and I'm totally good with that. ;0)
When I worked FT, we had his, hers, ours. Now that I'm working PT, we have his and hers and his is mostly ours since I can't pay all the bills the way I used to. One of the reasons we have his and hers at all is because he has 2 children from a previous marriage he he takes care of their needs primarily from his account. Also "hers" allows me to have money for things like his birthday without asking for it. His/hers was also good when I had debts I brought into the marriage that I paid myself. I have long since paid off my car and student loans. We are on we are on each other's accounts.
Well, we are a single income family, so it is his income, but it is our money. My husband only tried the "my" thing one time and it was in reference to the car. I said I was going out because I was mad and needed air. He said, "No you aren't. Who's car do you think your driving?" (God bless his heart). I said, "Well, considering the fact that I do the job of 5 people and if you had to pay me you couldn't afford me, I'm pretty sure it's mine." He shut up, I took a drive, came back and we worked it all out.
The way we work it is we have two accounts. His pay is direct deposited into one account. We then transfer over the money alloted to run the house and family (i.e. food, gas, lunches, miscellaneous kid stuff - because isn't there always kid stuff) and he keeps the rest for bills and his personal expenses. If I need more, I tell him and I get it, as long as it's reasonable and he has it to give. It's how we manage the money, but in the end it's our money and it's available to both of us.
"Our money," although it's all in accounts with only my name on them. He still owes back taxes from a failed business and they can't "skim" from accounts without his name on them, so he closed his and I opened one in just my name. This isn't illegal, my name wasn't on the business and he IS paying the debt off, it's just that they used to go into his accounts and take thousands because they could, and we almost lost our house that way.
We've always had joint accounts before this, and I always was in control of the spending. He's terrible with money, and it's just easier that way for us, whether I'm working outside the home or not, it always goes into one shared account.
His money is "our" money and my money is my money!
LOL Just kidding.
It's "our" money.
I am a SAHM so I dont' have an income of my own. MY husbands money is our money. If I need or want something and I know we can afford it I buy it or go out and do it. My husband doesn't care that I spend 85 bucks on my hair he doesn't even ask how much it costs,as long as he gets his weekly allowence and utitilites don't start getting shut off he could care less. Once in a while I hear I work so I should get to do what I want but that's usually just him being broke and wanting something he doesnt' have the money for. When I worked he had a job where he kept getting laid off so we just both paid whatever needed paid and if there was leftover money then we spent it together. Neither of is 100% selfish all the time although my husband can be more than me but I do the checkbook.
I am a SAHM but I also babysit so I do make a little money. Mostly though our husbands money is our money. I use his paycheck for bills and such and since I get paid in cash I use that for shopping.
We are in the process of moving so money is super tight, so I really don't buy anything extra for me or the kids (except starting on Christmas presents already) but I don't have to ask if I do buy things. Usually I tell him just to keep him in the loop but I don't feel like I have too tell or hide it. :)
Mostly the only thing we argue about is money, and sometimes it happens quite frequently, but I know he's stressed at a job he's not a huge fan of and he just took the LSATs so he is starting the law school apps now.
To answer your question, our money is our money no matter who earned it. It is for the good of our family and we spend together. We both make all major decisions together.