Married Folks: Pooled or Separate Finances?

[MickeyMomOfThree]

I got my first job last year and am back to being home full time. I made $1200 last year. $1200 in 17.5 years of marriage. Needless to say, all our money is pooled. But, even if I had a regular income, we'd pool our money. It is what works for us.

 

[castleview]

Pooled. I still have a savings account in my name and he has a credit union account in his. We just haven't gotten around to putting each others' names on them. We didn't have much when we got married so it's not like we were protecting assets coming in.

I like to think of us as a business. He brings in the money, I handle the bills, I'm with the kids during the day, we both tend to them when he's home, I keep the home from falling apart, he keeps the yard from turning to dirt, etc.

We have friends who keep their finances totally separate and itemize every dollar brought in and spent. I can't even imagine taking the time to do that. It might work for some, but not us.

 

[Rora]

We've pooled our finances.

My parents have separate accounts.

 

[ilovejack02]

Married 15 years. Started off separate funds , but gradually all just ended up together. Been a Sahm for 8 years now. He handles all bill paying as I am not interested in doing it, but I know what the bills are . We discuss investments together .

Have credit card in my own name, and we have a joint one . I pay my credit card, because I don't want him to see what I have bought him for gifts. I don't think he has ever opened the bill and doesn't know even how to get into the account online. LOL.


It works for us, I figure If I want a 400.00 of shoes, I am going to buy them . I will check to make sure nothing big is going to hit the bank but I don't ask permission , and he usually checks with me before making a big purchase. Never know if it might have been the week I decided I wanted those shoes. ; ) Big purchase for us is over 100.00 on a "play" item.

Has worked well for us, I don't question what he buys and he learned early on, don't question me on what I spend.
The few times early on he tried to pull that card , his underwear didn't get washed for awhile ; ) lol.

 

[taylor1293]

We've always pooled our finances. We did this even before we were married and were just living together.

 

[SnowWtch]

After 5 years of being married we still have separate accounts. We have one shared credit card and the rest are in my name. DH isn't that great when it comes to money so my account pays the bills and his is used for other things. He's out of work with no more unemployment so I try to keep him from spending a lot on toys and video games. His mother has access to his account and sometimes puts money in it to help with his medical bills. Every little bit helps.

 

[lrichardson]

We pool our money but my husband takes a check each week usually his spending money and any money he has had to use for household expenses. I take care of the finances for the family. We never fight about money, probably because we don't have alot so not much to fight about. We plan any big expenses together and always talk before we buy anything expensive. I have heard of many married couples that do everything separate not sure how that would work. We have 2 kids, 1 dog and 3 cats so who would finance them.

 

[Pakey]

My husband and I have been married 26 years. Our money has been pooled for 20 years. I make 4x what he does so if he ever mentioned me purchasing $400 shoes, I'd probably club him with them.

We have only had one "opposing view" issue with money and that was over my current wedding ring. Once I explained my point of view (that I really hated the one he had purchased for me), he was in agreement. Other than that, we've never questioned each other's spending. All large purchases and investments are decided jointly.

 

[IdesOmarch]

pooled..I am actually the kiddie pool while DH is the waterpark of our income.

We both work, but I pay all the bills and give her cash when she needs it, but we have separate accounts, she just mainly pays a few of her personal bills, student loan etc., gas and some food, although I pay for around 75% of that as well.

 

[VisionPilot]

DW and I have our funds almsot completely separate. It's not my preference, but it hasn't been a big issue so far, so I don't rock the boat. I make almost all of our income and pay almost all of the bills, but she has bills that she pays out of her income. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about the $400 shoe situation as my wife faints at the prospect of paying full price for just about anything, much less that kind of money for any sort of clothing I know I'm lucky there.

When it comes to any significant purchases, we talk about it and come to an agreement on how to fit it into our budget. I just wouldn't feel right spending that kind of money on myself without buy-in from her...which is why I don't have an ipad yet...

 

[Abbie]

It's all in one big pot, and I handle all the finances. Even our CC's are joint. I handle our finances, from bill paying to tax returns to 401k investments. DH doesn't want to be bothered with it, and I'd rather have the "control" anyway so it all works out quite nicely.

This, except for the joint credit cards. I don't think either of us are authorized users on the other's card but we don't need to be since we each have our own. I keep tabs on everything online.

When we were first married, we tried to work out a system where I would handle the bills but he would be in the loop to see what was coming in/going out. He really hated having anything to do with it so gradually I just got control by default. Turned out I'm pretty good with handling money so he's just glad he doesn't have to do it. The biggest threat I can make is having him take over the bills....he straightens right up! Been married 30 years so I guess our system works for us.

 

[ead79]

We have joint accounts, but I do the finances. So while DH's name is on our joint account, he doesn't do anything with it or have a clue what's going on (LOL--he calls it blissful ignorance). He's the primary breadwinner, but I'm more organized.

So I pay all of our bills out of our joint account, then we each get a little pocket spending money for frivolous things we want to buy. We run large purchases by the other one so there are no big surprises. Well, I did hide one of DH's bonus checks from him so I could surprise him with a MacBook Pro one Christmas, but he didn't seem to mind that.

 

[paintnolish]

I'm in the minority!
My husband and I have different savings and checking accounts. We both, however, have access to each other's accounts. I may have written a check or two in our whole marriage with his checkbook though. I just think it is easier to have and manage our own finances separately.

Us, too. He has bills he pays, like the house and cares. I pay utilities and groceries. We take turns paying when we go out to dinner or movies.

 

[snowywhite89]

Joint everything. I am in charge of all the bookkeeping/billpaying for our family and this keeps the job managable.

Same here.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

We live off of DH's income. It pays for the house, car, bills, etc. I kick in on some of the bills and I pay for childcare out of my income. We use it as our rainy day fund in case of emergencies, and we also pay for special trips out of my income as well. It also covers my scrapbooking habit.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

It's one account, both names. Everything is shared. We consult one another on $25+ purchases. We both know what we have and can and cannot spend. $400 shoes aren't in our budget anyway... lol... not that I want/need that kind of thing.

 

[aaarcher86]

I vote a combo. The only reason we are totally joint as of right now is because I'm a student so he's the primary/only one with the income.

Once I graduate I plan on having my own checking, he'll have his own checking, and a joint checking for bills. I prefer having my own spending money and he does too. It's particularly hard at Christmas or birthdays when my husband wants to purchase something and I see the charge on the bank account! lol

 

[indimom]

Not married, but been together for 10 years. We have seperate accounts for pretty much everything (as you should if you're not married, and you should still have some of your own accounts when you are married) except a few investment accounts that we share.

If you don't mind my asking, Why?
This is not snark, just genuinely wondering? We keep both names on all accounts, we both have a credit history. What am I missing by not having a personal account? (I freely admit my money management skills were learned on the job so to speak, so I may be missing the obvious here.)

 

[drag n' fly]

Completely seperate accounts and credit cards. We have one joint savings/chequing/LOC/investments(retirement) that we share for household expenses.

 

[Tinkermommy]

It's one account, both names. Everything is shared. We consult one another on $25+ purchases. We both know what we have and can and cannot spend. $400 shoes aren't in our budget anyway... lol... not that I want/need that kind of thing.

This is pretty much us. We typically set a budget for new seasonal clothes twice a year (which varies depending on what we need). So if I wanted to spend $400 on a pair of shoes, I would but it would soak up a lot of my budget!

My husband is in finance and takes care of our bills and investments. Every month though we go over out input and output so I know where we are financially.

This works for us and we have been married 23 years.