Separate or Joint Checking Accounts?

[dakcp2001]

We have separate accounts and one "house account" . We know our monthly expenses and each contribute enough to pay all of the bills. I would not feel comfortable not having my own account and control over my own income.

I think this is generational as well. I think joint used to be the norm, but I do not think that is necessarily true today. Most of my friends also have separate, actually I do not know anyone with joint except my parents.

 

[purplegirl247]

We have separate accounts- we just kept the ones we had before marriage. We are on each other's, but we don't use them. It is just easier to stay organized and keep track of things. Dh pays the mortgage and car payments. I pay the utilities and groceries, generally. We kind of trade of paying for movies, dinners, etc.

Very similar in our house, except since I make more (well, and actually stay on top of such things, lol), I pay for the big stuff like the mortgage, car, bills, almost anything with a due date etc. He pays for all the going-out stuff. Same thing when we go on vacation: I pay all the upfront, deposit-type stuff and he pays for the day-to-day. It's worked out really well for us.

I think you just have to find out what works for you and adapt as the years go by. I don't look at separate accounts as separate lives, just different ways of doing things.

 

[SC Minnie]

We have a joint account and I still have the account that I've had since I was 16. My paycheck comes into my single account then I transfer $ into the joint so bills can be paid. DH takes care of the joint account. I can get into it if I need to but I don't. DH didn't like the idea of us both writing checks or debit card from the same account. He didn't trust that I would give him all the receipts- he's an accountant and is anal about having everything right away . Anyway, it works for us.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Everything is joint in our house, It works for us

Same here, from day 1 of our marriage 25 years ago.

I've been a SAHM for most of the last 18 years...if I had my own acct, it would be pretty empty. I did go back to work part-time for a couple of years, with a specific goal for my earnings, and that I kept in a separate account. Then I spent it.

 

[ead79]

DH and I have 2 joint accounts, so we have equal access to each account. However, as the more anal-retentive one of the two of us , I pay the bills. As such, DH's paycheck and my paycheck are both direct deposited to the account that used to be mine alone before we got married. While DH has access, he really leaves the finances up to me.

 

[AristocatFan]

Joint because what's mine is mine and what's his is mine!

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Suze Ormond says that a couple should have 3 checking accounts... one for each person and then one household account that is funded with an equal percentage of total pay by both people (ex: both people put in 50% of their pay).

To me this is a problem. Say DH makes 100K and I make 50K. He would contribute $50 and I would contribut $25K. Each would have the same amount left to spend. So he has way more money to blow and that could cause issues in the marriage.

Yeah, I don't know exactly how she worded it but 50%/50% doesn't seem right to me unless you're both making the same amount (not realistic). I think that each should kick in the same percentage towards the household expenses/saving as their percentage of total income. So if DW is making $3,200 per month and DH is making $4,800 per month - that's a combined income of $8,000 per month. DW brings in 40% of monthly income so should be responsible for 40% of household expenses. DH brings in 60% of monthly income so should be responsible for 60% of household expenses.

That sounds great in theory but sometimes you can come up with something that works well for your specific situation. For instance, what my ex and I did while we were married was: I made more and what I made pretty much covered our monthly bills. I got paid once a month on the last day of the month and he got paid weekly. Soooo, my paycheck went towards income tax withholding and all of the monthly bills and his weekly paycheck had almost no income tax withheld and it mainly went towards our grocery/gas/fun money.

 

[dakcp2001]

Joint because what's mine is mine and what's his is mine!

 

[LoraJ]

We have 3 checking accounts: his, hers, ours. Same with savings. It works for us.

And we are just as married as anyone with all joint accounts.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I think Suze Ormond is nuts with this suggestion. I make less than DH primarily because of choices we have made to make our family work--we have similar professional positions, but I work fewer hours and seek less responsibility so that I can take care of our kids and make dinner, etc. And for that I should have less spending money than he gets? Nope.

Everything goes into a joint checking account, all the "regular" bills get paid out of that. We have a pre-determined amount of spending money each for the month and any expenditures beyond that require a discussion and agreement.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Joint. We actually got a joint account when DH and I were still just DF. We did it because it was just stupid to be handlinng things separately. DH wasn't the bill paying sort, so he had to pay me every month so I could pay our rent and other bills. Plus, he can't 100% be trusted with his own finances. I love the man, but I paid off one of his looming credit card debts on his behalf way before we were even DF.

I make more. I work more. I do all the finances, and what's his is definitely mine.

 

[sbell111]

Our marriage is a partnership. All of our bank accounts are joined.

 

[beattyfamily]

We have separate, but joint accounts. That way they are separate but we have access to them for transfers etc...

We had lots of problems when we shared one checking. I'm good with money, DH isn't. I have my money for the household upkeep, spending money and my bills, DH has his money for the big bills and his own spending money.

Then we have a joint savings.

This works for us.

 

[mamacatnv]

IMHO Susie Orman is an idiot

All monies are joint with the exception of the employer sponsored retirement funds.

What we each do have is separate and joint credit. I actually have a slightly better credit rating than he does

It has worked for us for 25 years - we work for the greater good of the household, the kids and our retirements. It is a joint venture for us, not an individual race.

 

[ProgressCity]

We have seperate accounts, mainly because of his ex. Except for the first year we were together, I make more than DH and we have to keep it seperate so it doesn't get figured into child support.

 

[Thumper_Man]

We actually have both, joint and separate. We had separate accounts before we got together. So we pretty much just left them that way. We each have our own personal bills that we pay out of our own personal accounts, plus we split the household payments. Where we work, I pay the bills for our office; so DW handles most of the household payments. She gives me a break from paying bills at home.

Our joint account is used for fun stuff. Movies, WDW vacations (or any other vacation for that matter), dinner out and the occasional emergencies. This has been working great for us. Eventually I need to make sure and add her to my personal account in case anything were to ever happen to me (knocks on wood).

 

[clarabelle]

We have joint -and I pay the bills.
I don't think there is a right or wrong -just whatever works for the couple

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

We are a family and a partnership, however we keep seperate checking accounts. That way no one has to know when I buy $300 shoes, and my husband can buy a new car without telling me.

It works for us and that is what matters.

 

[damo]

Same here, from day 1 of our marriage 25 years ago.

I've been a SAHM for most of the last 18 years...if I had my own acct, it would be pretty empty. I did go back to work part-time for a couple of years, with a specific goal for my earnings, and that I kept in a separate account. Then I spent it.

Pretty much my story exactly. We've been married for 26 years and have always had a joint account. We had always planned that I would work for a few years and then stay home once the kids came along. I have worked part time but never earned enough to make a difference so there was never a need for a separate account.

 

[WDWBarb]

Question for those of you who keep separate accounts..

What about savings goals? Do you agree to put a certain percentage of each paycheck into savings?

Just curious.. I know DH would never contribute to his Roth or savings unless I made him do it.