please ignore

[peacefulgirl]

please ignore

 

[CarolA]

For those of you shopping life insurance check with any professional groups you might be a member of. For example I am a member of the AICPA. I get life insurance at a good rate and since it is a "not for profit" plan if the expenses are low and earnings are good I get a refund! I got 60% of my preimum back this year~~~

 

[peacefulgirl]

please ignore

 

[pat fan]

Those of you who are married, how do you handle your checking account? How is your system set up for paying bills? Do you have 1 joint checking for house bills and then seperate or same savings? Looking for ideas on this as well. I am sure people have ideas that may be different from the traditional way.
***************************************************

I don't know if this is considered traditional, but it's what works for us. My DH is awful with money, so he hands his check over to me and I do all the bill paying.

I have envelopes (archaic system, I know!) that I put money in every week for certain things (like the mortgage) so that when that is due, I just reach in and pay it. I pay misc. bills (electric,directv,phone,cc etc..) at the end of the month, ins. the first of the month and car payment the second week. My FIL set this up for me when my DH and I first moved in together (I was 17, he was 20) and I had NO CLUE what to do. This way each paycheck in the month has a set thing to pay. If the month has an extra week in it, I either set it aside for "other" bills (life ins. payment or whatever that is quarterly) or put it in the bank.

We each also have some taken out each week into a savings (he has his, I have mine) that we don't touch. Mine is for vacations, his is for Christmas shopping. The only time we touch it is if there is some big thing that is unexpected (like my DB,DS and I paying for a roof for my parents this summer ).

We are not the soundest in terms of finances, but much better off than most people we know. We are trying to get ot of debt like everyone else, but it isn't easy.We have one cc with a farly good-sized balance from when we were younger and I was a STAH mom and things were just too tight. We did use the cc then for Christmas,b-days and clothes. We are still paying for it and I wish we weren't, but that's life. We don't do that anymore and some day that bill will be gone and I'll be so glad! Anyway, that's what works for us.I think if you make it too complicated (a dozen different checkbooks for every little thing) it's too much.Figure out when your bills come due. Divide them up between the paychecks you get every month and write it on a calender over your desk at home (or wherever you pay the bills from).

Week1- $ to mortgage and pay auto ins.
Week2- $ to mortgage and pay car payment.
Week3- $ to mortage and misc. bills
Week4- Pay mortgage

It also leaves enough out of each check for groceries and money for the week.I don't consider what I do giving DH an allowance, but he does get some money for the week, plus he has a side job and that is "his" money, unless we need it for something in which case he has no problem kicking it into the hosehold accounts.

One other thing. I may get flamed for this, but I can't believe the number of people on here who have seperate accounts for "free" money and "his going out" money. WTH!??!!My DH wouldn't want or expect money set aside so he could "go out with the boys" and neither would I! We are a family, we do things together. There is the occasional seperate "outing" but not a weekly or even monthly thing.Cripes, stop doing that and stay home with your family.

I think you just really need to step back,sit down and figure out what's important.If it was me, private school would be the first to go.Sorry, JMO.If your DH has "going out" money, that's gone. No one "deserves" to go out.Sell the darn dump truck for what you can get and pay off one or two of those loans. Find out the blue book value, see how many loans you can get rid of with just under that and sell it. NOW. I know it's hard, but you can get there. Denial and anger don't work though, but I've been there too so I understand. It's easier to get defensive than to get real.We really all mean well,truly .

 

[CarolA]

For a lot of couples his and hers accounts are really good. Plus as one of my friends said it..."It's a lot less romantic to get to get a gift if I then have to pay for it " LOL!

Actually reading pat fan's post just scared me due to what must be the size of the mortgage in relationship to the income. My mortgage has always only been 1 or two weeks worth of income. It's bigger now then on my first house, but so is my salary. Then I saw you live in MA. My best friend lives in Newton and I know that housing costs in MA are OUT of sight. I know that must make it harded to make ends meet and get out of debt. Good luck!

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Now for anyone who cares to jump in with answers...

Those of you who are married, how do you handle your checking account? How is your system set up for paying bills? Do you have 1 joint checking for house bills and then seperate or same savings? Looking for ideas on this as well. I am sure people have ideas that may be different from the traditional way.

Also, what types of bills do you have set up for automatic payments? Do you find they work for you?

I don't know if this is considered traditional, but it's what works for us. My DH is awful with money, so he hands his check over to me and I do all the bill paying.

The same here. In recent years I used to have the only checking account. That bank wouldn't allow him to deposit his check without me there and they would hassle me if he wasn't with me at the time of deposit. It was just a PIA if he needed money and I had no cash on hand. We opened a joint account two years ago at another bank that doesn't have all those ridiculous fees and they don't hassle either of to make a deposit, plus he has an ATM/debit card if he needs to make a purchase or make a withdrawal.

I have been keeping track of my expenses for a year in Excel. The file for '05 is broken down to 3 months per sheet and each quarter consists of two sheets - one lists creditor, amount due, balance and amount paid, the other reads the payment due and amount paid from sheet 1 and I also record the income and keep a running balance). I can easily see where the money is going and how much is left over each week. Since I've been looking over a year's information those unexpected expenses are noted and I can budget for them in the future.

I started working on 2006 earlier this week. I copied the original file and put the entire year on one sheet, still using the two sheet system.

 

[bdcp]

We have joint accounts. Until I went back to work, we only had one account and everything came out of that. Since I went back to work part-time after 14 years in my favorite job of SAHM when my boys were in 6th and 8th grade my check goes in a separate joint account. The reason we did that is so it wouldnt' just get absorbed into the other account and spent before we realized it. Anyway, it was used for vacations, Christmas, birthdays, savings, etc. Now it's mostly used to pay for my boys college. We never got used to living on two incomes so we don't "miss" my income. I have always paid all of the bills and this started because my DH was gone with the Navy so mucht he first 4 years we were married and he liked having our bills paid on time. We just continued to do this. Most of the families I know do it the same way. I also dont' get the my money, and his money concept. I have friends who are living together and engaged who do that and it's funny and somewhat sad to listen to dividing up everything equally. Suzie Orman teaches a percentage system for non joint account couples though since one person usually makes more than the other. I'm not sure what people think they're protecting. If you break up you still have your assets and split any jointly bought, and if you divorce, assets are split in half and just because it's in one persons' name doesnt necessarily mean that you can legally "hide" it from the other.

Something else we've always done is buy homes based on my DH's income alone. (and qualify for all loans that way too). So, for the first 14 years we were married we were in townhouses. We now are on our second single family home in 10 years and it's our dream home with a lot of equity. Being frugal early on can pay off later.

 

[disneysteve]

Those of you who are married, how do you handle your checking account? How is your system set up for paying bills? Do you have 1 joint checking for house bills and then seperate or same savings?
Also, what types of bills do you have set up for automatic payments? Do you find they work for you?

There was a thread on this topic not too long ago. In fact, I think I started it. I'll see if I can locate it.

Anyway, we'll be married for 13 years on 7/12. We opened our first joint account shortly after we got engaged. All of our money has been joint ever since. I handle paying the bills and managing the investments. No particular reason - just that I enjoy doing it. We each have full access to all the money - no secret accounts anywhere.

As for automatic payments, the ones I can think of offhand are gas, electric, water, home phone, cell phone, alarm company, home equity loan, mortgage, 3 different investment accounts and life and disability insurance. There are probably a couple of others I just can't think of right now. The best part is several of those charge to my Visa which helps rack up the reward points. Wish I could charge the mortgage payment but they don't allow that. Tried to buy our last car with my Visa but they wouldn't go for it either.

 

[crisi]

We used to have three checking accounts - his/mine and ours. Stopped in about the time the kids were born for a couple of reasons. We both switched jobs around that time and we'd have needed to reset up the deposits. We started making enough money that "blowing" an allowance wasn't painful. We didn't do much as individuals the first few years - or even have time to blow our allowance at the bookstore.

We still have many accounts. A checking account (of course), a short term/emergency savings account. Several different brokerage accounts, four 401k accounts, etc.

We use Quicken, but don't really budget. We do have a cash flow issue in that about 25% of our income comes in four quarterly checks, so for two months we spend out of savings, in the third month we put it all back.

 

[disneysteve]

http://130.94.75.33/showthread.php?t=804637

Here's the other thread where we discussed joint finances. That was a dual-topic thread also discussion taking separate vacations, but lots of posts about the joint accounts.

 

[imsayin]

We each have full access to all the money - no secret accounts anywhere.

Same here. Not that my husband knows what all the accounts are since I take care all money matters. He has no interest, and I joke with him that I could be stashing it all in my secret account and he wouldn't know.

Tried to buy our last car with my Visa but they wouldn't go for it either.

I tried the same thing. I think they let me charge $500 or $1000 for a downpayment, but I really wanted to rack up some points!

 

[minnie1928]

Now for anyone who cares to jump in with answers...

Those of you who are married, how do you handle your checking account? How is your system set up for paying bills? Do you have 1 joint checking for house bills and then seperate or same savings? Looking for ideas on this as well. I am sure people have ideas that may be different from the traditional way.

Also, what types of bills do you have set up for automatic payments? Do you find they work for you?

We have 2 bank accounts, at 2 different banks. I'm a banker (have been for 15+ years, OMG! ). 1 account is at my old bank that has a wide ATM network, which works well if my husband needs cash since his office is far from home. The other account is at my current employer, a small community bank.

The older account gets my husband's paycheck direct deposited into it, then all our payments (utility, cable, car, insur, mortgage) are automatically withdrawn from it. My DH gets paid monthly so I've been able to get most of my payments to cycle their due dates within a week of his paycheck. We write out a check for cash once a month and that covers our groceries and spending money.

The newer account gets my paycheck into it and from there I pay daycare and oddball miscellaneous expenses. Then the night before I get paid I write a check for the balance in the account out to the finance company for my car. This way if I need a few extra dollars for something unexpected, I still have it, but at the same time I'm paying extra principal on my car every 2 weeks.

Now, I don't have a fancy reason for having 2 accounts. My new account gets free checks (employee perk) so I write more checks out of this account. Also I'm very private about my finances, and having my DH's paycheck and all our bills paid out of an account that could be seen by MANY of my coworkers does not thrill me. This is the main reason I have seperate accounts.

PG-I'm glad that you made it to the library and got some new books. When you and your DH get to talk over the next few days/weeks, I'd love to know your plan of attack after all the information you've been gathering. I've always thought that a positive attitude can take you far, and I think you'll go far. Best of luck and keep posting!

 

[cruisnfamily]

OK, here's how we do it. And we're very, very happy with our system. I'm a STAHmom but we did it this way even when I worked.

First, we use Quicken. We run everything thru there and it really helps...more on this in a minute. In addition to the bank accounts I'm about to mention I just want to say we do have assorted investment accts. One is joint and the others are individual soley because they are IRAs and must be that way.

We have a joint checking and 2 joint savings. All monies go into the joint checking. 1 joint savings is just for setting aside any small extra funds we might have(not very much at the moment) and the other one is what I call "Escrow Savings" which is used soley to pay homeowners insurance and property taxes. I have a set amount coming out of the joint checking every paycheck and going into this account. I added up the taxes and ins and divided by 24 and that's what goes in there eventhough we actually get 26 checks per year. This gives us a tiny cushion in this account.

I have every single bill set up in Quicken as a recurring transaction. Some are automatically sent or deducted. The ones that aren't I just have quicken post the average amount in my account and I change it as needed. I even have it post an avg grocery and gas amount to my checking every monday. What this does is it tells me how much will be coming and going at any point in time. I can scroll to November and see what my account balance is likely to be. Of course there are variables and odds and ends that we pay out that are not in Quicken but it gives us quite a good idea of where we are.

DH and I just take cash out of checking as we need it but we never take more than $30 at a time and we make it last. Generally $30 will pay for DH's lunch for the week. Sometimes he'll spend a little extra if he plays golf or something but for the most part, our "mad money" expenses are pretty small. We pay for absolutely everything wit our debit card unless it is a large expense which would go on credit. Using the debit card and carrying next to no cash really helps with random small purchases not getting away from you.

So, that's how we do it. If you have questions let me know. This is just a basic overview.

 

[minnie1928]

First, we use Quicken. We run everything thru there and it really helps...I have every single bill set up in Quicken as a recurring transaction. Some are automatically sent or deducted. The ones that aren't I just have quicken post the average amount in my account and I change it as needed.

How could I forget my absolute favorite thing on the pc (besides the DIS !)! I would be absolutely lost without this. You can plan for the future, look at the past for trends and see where all your money is going!

 

[etwinchester]

You asked, so here it goes. I have a couple of different accounts, but for good reasons.

1. Joint Checking - used for all bills. The only thing that comes out automatically is the mortgage and some money per week that is transfered to the savings.

2. Joint Savings - $50 a week from the checking goes into here. This is our cushion fund or per Dave Ramsey, the emergency fund.

3. Mary Kay Checking - all my Mary Kay bills come from here. I pay myself once a month with any profit and it goes into the joint checking.

4. Real Estate Checking - I was a SAHM until recently. I got an Administrative Assistant job 2 days a week to save for my Real Estate School. I actually work for a RE Office. My paychecks are directly deposited into there to save for my classes since I'm not use to making any income when I stayed at home. I also pay the babysitter (till she starts kindergarten) from this account since this job is why I had to get one.

5. Business Checking - I recently started a SMALL Auto Repair shop and all of those bills get paid from here. We pay ourselves weekly from the profit and it goes into the joint checking as well. It's VERY small right now since we just started this within the last week.


I handle all the finances since hubby wants nothing to do with it. If you asked him how much was in each account or what bills we had, he'd have no clue. Ok, he would probably answer mortgage and nextel since his phone is GLUED to his ear. He has no desire to know what we owe. I get worked up and he says "who cares", it's only bills and everyone has them. He said that he wouldn't worry until they came to the door knocking. Can you see why I have to handle it all???

I definately use Quicken to keep all these accounts in order. I also have the bills listed in a scheduled transaction list so I never forget about what & when the bills are due. Also if anything were to happen to me, hubby would know what gets paid and when and also have a list of our assets & liabilities.

I also love all the reports you can make up. Great for the end of year. I have 2 Quicken files (like you would have word/excel files). One is called "personal", which shows accounts 1-4 and one called "business", which contains account 5. These are kept seperate incase we ever expand and decide to hire a secretary. I could just save this file to disk and put on a computer for the shop. Thus, no one would have access to all our personal stuff.

Quicken is so great. it also contains a home log, which allows you to log all your insurance policy #'s & amounts, will information, 401K, debts, etc... and print it out (called a survivor sheet). That way, incase anything happens to us, my DD's guardian would have all the information (in one place) needed to obtain all the assets (money) we have for our child or any debts we may owe. Would also be helpful if anything happened to be and not hubby. This way, it will ALL be at his fingertips.

 

[luvthatdisney]

I was one of the posters on this thread that asked about having 3 checking accounts - his mine and ours. Some responses have questioned why we would consider doing this. Well we have been married for almost 20 years and the system we have now does not work. We have one joint checking and one joint savings and my DH has one savings account of his own. He works on cars (besides his regular job) and has his own car he is restoring. We set up his own savings as he was taking money out of our regular account without telling me and we would end up short.

My DH has no interest in finances and has no clue what we owe/pay, etc... It does get hard to find each other (even with cell phones) to ask much we can purchase at any given time. My DH does not go out with the boys he just likes spending money on his toys!! He does check the balance in our account, but has no idea what needs to be paid out of that money. We have had a few bounced checks (before I had a small overdraft credit line attached to the account) due to him spending money this way.

If we are going to have any type of savings I have to do it and right now we dont - except for 401K with both of our employers (only hardship withdrawls can be made from these accounts!). I was thinking if he had a checking account with his own debit card - that would be his spending money (he would get a small allowance out of his regular check each week, plus what he makes on his side jobs. That way he could save up for things he wanted on his car. He does seem to keep up with the balance in his savings account pretty well so I think he could keep up with this account (I guess I could help some!! ) He used to always say he was tired of never having any money - now that he has his own account that is not tied to anything else - I have not heard that in a while!!

I hope this explains one of the reasons I wanted to try this. After 20 years of paycheck to paycheck - I was trying to think outside of the box!! Our bills are all up to date - no late payments and I do pay a little extra on all of our cc's. Our upcoming WDW trip was all paid for by DH's side job - including the spending money - we have also been saving all of our change!! He was ok with spending "his" money on the trip since it is our 20th anniversary. I have read Suze Orman books and I have her will and estate planning pack, which I plan to implement shortly. The last 20 years have been like a spending spree as neither of us were taught the basics of savings - spending by our parents (DH parents just filed bankruptcy for the 2nd time!). I do not want to end up like that

I really appreciate all of the feedback and suggestions!

 

[pat fan]

luvthatdisney

You guys sound a lot like us!

My DH also likes to spend money on his "toy", but we always agree on how much and when. We also talk, a lot. By the sounds of a lot of folks on here, they lead very busy lives and have trouble communicating. Whether it's a time thing or relationship style I don't know. Neither of us would ever spend any real amount of money without checking with the other one. His side job is sporadic, not a source of income you count on, just something he can tap into if he wants some "toy" money. All our WDW trips were paid for in cash up front and spending $$$ was cash also.No cc. I believe he has also written two checks in our 18 years of marriage. It is a joint account, he just hates doing anything with money which is why I do it.It works for us.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Quicken is so great. it also contains a home log, which allows you to log all your insurance policy #'s & amounts, will information, 401K, debts, etc... and print it out (called a survivor sheet). That way, incase anything happens to us, my DD's guardian would have all the information (in one place) needed to obtain all the assets (money) we have for our child or any debts we may owe. Would also be helpful if anything happened to be and not hubby. This way, it will ALL be at his fingertips.

I use quicken daily and really know the ins and outs but apparently this is somethign I've missed. Which version of quicken do you have and where would I find this?

Thanks!

 

[Debbie]

We deal with 2 major banks for personal reasons. DH's disability cheques go into a (joint) chequing account at the first bank. I've just combined the two Lines of Credit, and that money will go to pay it off. There are a few automatic withdrawals that come out of there as well. DH gets a second insurance cheque every two weeks, and it goes to groceries, 'cept near birthday/Christmas, when DH uses it for gifts.

At the second bank, we have a savings (my paycheque is deposited there) and a chequing (which has some automatic withdrawals on it). I regularly transfer-automatic and 'manual'- online-money from one to the other.

For expenses that come out once or twice a year, I have an ING account. I have automatic transfers TO the ING. Music $50/week, alternating the two deposit (Bank 1 and Bank 2) accounts. This pays for kiddos music lessons/ choir fees and clothing for school-they go to a specialized (but public!) music school. DH's income tax-once per quarter- automatically goes into ING, and then we pay the whole shebang at the end of April. In the meantime, the money has been sitting and waiting to be used. I have another ING account for any extra money that I happen to have left over. It's called Mickey Money, and has been lonely the past year, since I've had 1, then 2 and now 3 kiddos go off to university. What WAS I thinking 18, 19 and 20 years ago??

I have a credit union account through work, and I have $200 a pay taken off at source. THEN, when I have $500-$1500 in there, I transfer to their high interest savings account.

I have many bills on automatic withdrawal: cable, registered educational plans, Curves, Retirement Savings, Church givings, insurances, and car payment (which will be done in September!)

I use Quicken 2000 (when I update my computer, I'll update the Quicken), and I love it. Those bills that I don't have as an automatic withdrawal, I have come up each month as scheduled transactions, and I manually pay them-online. I never set foot in the bank. One feature that I use with Quicken, is that I have the "Billminder" set to "ON". Quicken reminders are set to pop up at startup, so every day, when I turn on the computer, I can see what bills-scheduled and automatic- are coming up.

In Canada, we pay a set annual figure for Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance. Round about the end of July, I've paid the yearly total through payroll deductions. THEN, take that combined figure, and (automatic) transfer it over to the ING Christmas account. When I spend money on Christmas gifts, I transfer back to pay the credit card off. The best thing about this, is that I don't get used to having the 'extra' money in my pocket, and then it really hurts in January when CPP and EI is back on as a deduction.

Working through the finances is a difficult (and STRESSFUL) job. Quicken really shows you where you are, where you've been, and where you're going. I'd be lost without it!

 

[EthansMom]

We have one checking account with DH's paycheck direct deposited. I run a monthly budget, using Excel to track the budget. I plan the budget off two paychecks per month (DH gets paid biweekly) and the extra 2 paychecks per year go toward vacations. Also, I don't initially include OT pay in the monthly budget, so we use OT pay to pay for extras and/or save for big purchase items. Lately, a lot of DH's OT pay has been going into savings toward a nicer t.v. But this month, the lawn mower died, so his OT pay will have to pay for a new lawn mower.

Within Excel, I have a worksheet where I keep track of what the money in our savings account is being saved towards. So although we have one big pot of "Savings", I know that A dollars is Emergency Savings, B dollars is Vacation Savings, C dollars is New Car Purchase Savings, D dollars is DH's Personal Spending Savings, E dollars is EthansMom's Personal Spending Savings...

For personal spending (allowance) money, DH and I each get $20 cash each week for coffee/fast food and $40 each month to spend/save however we each want. Any of our $40 that is left at the end of the month, gets transferred into our savings account and I update my Savings spreadsheet to track that DH or I have more money waiting in savings.