Any married couples split all expenses 50/50?

[Conversationist]

Money is the biggest reason married couples divorce and fight. I have a solution for married couples WITHOUT CHILDREN. Split all expenses 50/50, just like room-mates.

When the various bills for mortgage, car payments, utilities and other on- going expenses come in- split the cost 50/50. When you make a big purchase that will be shared by both of you- like a TV, stereo, automobile, etc. Split the cost 50/50. When you go to the grocery store, split the cost 50/50. When the credit card bill comes in for the expenses related to a vacation, split the cost 50/50.

(Of course this only works if you make about the same income. If one person makes more- determine a ratio that fits with the income of each spouse.)

Yes, I know that this idea will be unpopular with some of you. You will say it is against the idea of being married. Though it works with many couples and stops the main reason people fight in their marriage and get a divorce.

Can I get anyone to agree that this is a great plan? Please!

 

[tlgoblue]

I absolutely agree. He makes it...I spend it. Works for us.

 

[agotta]

Our paychecks go into the same account. There is no his/hers money. We have agreed to a budget, and it only causes a riff sometimes

 

[chesirechik]

DH & I have been doing this for years. We even split the bill at restaurants.

We each have certain utility bills, etc that we each pay. We have never fought about money!

 

[disykat]

I don't think this would work at all. What if one person eats more food, takes longer showers, wants the heat higher, etc.? Nothing is 50/50 and if people go into a marriage thinking it should be, then they are pretty much destined for divorce IMO. I can see being responsible for different bills, but 50/50 is a crock.

 

[Laura]

We've found it much easier to just put all the money together and have the same bank accounts.

 

[Crankyshank]

So what would they do if the spouse was a SAHP? Take it out in trade?

 

[Beth76]

I absolutely agree. He makes it...I spend it. Works for us.

That's about how it works for us too. We don't fight about money because we're both pretty reasonable about it. I don't go out and buy fancy clothes all the time. He doesn't buy electronics all the time. We do treat ourselves occasionally and if it's something big, we consult the other. I have a friend whose husband is so cheap, he won't even let her get caller ID (that's like $5 a month). No way would that fly with me.

 

[JVL1018]

I would never do that--it seems so nitpicky to me.
Moot point now as I don't work so it is DH 100%, me 0%.

When I did work I made less than him, but it never was an issue-our paychecks were direct deposited into our checking and at that point became "our" money.
We've never had a fight about money, other than being depressed that we don't have more. LOL

 

[dadtoagirl]

I absolutely agree. He makes it...I spend it. Works for us.

Have you been speaking with my wife to develop this theory!

 

[dcgrumpy]

All of our money goes in and out of one account. There is no his and hers money. Splitting it 50 percent would really work for us since DH makes about $40K a year more than me. Plus I've taken three 1yr long maternity leaves. Of course if I made more I might like the 50/50 thing :lol:

 

[Rhonda922]

We have separate bank accounts. DH pays for certain things and I pay for others. I like having separate accounts so that we don't end up stepping on each other's toes. DH might go to the ATM and I may not know it and could end up writing out a check for funds that aren't available. The only thing that we pay together is vacation. I may buy the airline tix and he pays for the hotel or vice-versa. Other than not having enough of it, we've never had any problems over money.

 

[Cantw8]

We throw it all into a pot and hope for the best

 

[mickeyboat]

We used to pool our money. But DH went into business for himself a couple of years ago, which has changed things dramatically. I deposit my check into our household account, and he writes me a check for that account for an agreed-upon amount. We periodically re-evaluate that amount when new expenses arise. I am free to do whatever I want with the household account, as long as the bills are paid. He is allower to do whatever he wants with the business account, as long as the bills are paid.

His father was in business for himself for many years, and his wife controlled the business account, and basically spent it dry. It caused a lot of resentment, as you can imagine. So I want DH to be able to handle his business account the way he wants to - within reason, of course.

Denae

 

[caitycaity]

we pool our money in one account and both use that money. dh and i don't make even close to the same amount of money, so this works best for us.

 

[Hercules10]

Ain't no way Wifey gonna pay for half my visits to the girlie bar....

 

[Serena]

My sister and her husband do this and it doesn't work at all. For one thing she does not make as much money as he does, and she has two girls. He wants it totally 50/50 with no exceptions. And this includes health. She recently had to go to the er and the bill was about $2000. Money she didn't have. He refuses to help her and instead of helping to pay off the bill, he spends his extra money for toys.

 

[disykat]

I have a friend whose husband is so cheap, he won't even let her get caller ID (that's like $5 a month). .

I guess that's why dh and I do so well. We're both too cheap to spring for caller ID! We'd both say "that's like $5 a month!" with a totally different meaning.

 

[christinadei]

Our paychecks go into the same account. There is no his/hers money. We have agreed to a budget, and it only causes a riff sometimes

Same here.

 

[Michie]

My DH hasn't paid a bill in 20 years.

seriously we have all joint accounts. I have everything on autopay in case something happens to me the lights wont be turned off