First time with Joint Finances

moving in my with boyfriend next week.  we've discussed finances at length and come up with a plan that suits us and our finances.  just curious- how does everyone else who is married/in a co-habiting relationship do this?  do you have a joint account which all the bills are paid out of?  are all the bills in both your names?  are there some expenses you don't share?  what if one person makes more than the other- do you still split the bills 50/50?  just curious as to other options me and my boy haven't thought about.

I'm married - we have joint accounts and the bills are paid by whatever money is in them.  We don't have "his-n-hers" money.

Same here, peedal.  We're married as well.  Don't have 'his' and 'hers'.  There's one lot for everything.  Works for us, especially with kids on the scene.

I'm married - we have joint accounts and the bills are paid by whatever money is in them.  We don't have "his-n-hers" money.

Same here!

But when we were living together before we got married, we had separate accounts and kept track of our expenses as we made them. Since most of our joint expenses (food, electricity, rent) were in his name,  I transferred money to cover my share (which he lovingly figured out on an average since he made more than I did!) and we jointly paid for our travel to and from work (travel cards, etc.) and for our holiday tickets and travel.  We paid for our personal expenses (going out with friends, hobbies)ourselves. We budgeted the same amount for each families' xmas presents, too. Made for creative shopping when I had to include shipping charges to the US hehe I did a lot of shopping online! Still do!

It worked really well for us because we were honest with each other and had already started saving for the future.

It takes getting used to, this whole joint finances thing, but as long as you're "on the same page" and feel the same way about your finances, it really works!

Good Luck!

married, all money goes into a joint account where all bills are paid for.

we set a certain amount of money into savings

a certain amount for 'together' spending and groceries a week

and we each get an allowance.  there is no 'i make more, i get more'.  he makes commision montly, i make a fat bonus once a year.  it doesn't matter, it's all going to the same goal!

We're married, and have separate accounts.  As soon as we get paid, we both transfer a set amount of money into one of DH's savings accounts.  We each pay our separate bills (I pay my credit card, he pays his, etc.), I pay for the groceries and all entertainment/going out, and DH pays for all the rest.

DW & I have all our finances in one pot and have shared everything where possible, except for things like ISAs which must be separate.
We just pay our money into our joint account to pay bills, etc., no extra perks for the one who makes more money or anything like that.
Fortunately, the only debts we have are the mortgage so there's no outstanding loans or credit that either of us carry separately, so that makes it easier.

Matt

DH and I have joint everything, but we lived together for 3 years before we got married and then it was all his and hers. I paid my stuff he paid his. We split the bills. It's a little strange to have it all in one pot but it does make accounting for it in Microsoft Money easier.

DW & I have all our finances in one pot and have shared everything where possible.

Ditto for DH and I.

DH and I keep seperate accounts.
I pay all the bills out of my account, by direct debit.
When he gets paid, he gives me a cheque for half of the the household bills/expenses and whatever else he 'owes' me for (he is constantly asking me to buy him stuff, and just says 'add it on to my bill'!).

Works for us... neither of us was keen on having a joint account, especially after a bad experience with my previous husband.

Joint account mostly -- not really any his-and-hers...  Hub had more saved £££ to start with, but that's mostly gone now for the wedding, honeymoon & when we bought our house (downpayment, furniture, repairs, etc).  He still has a sole account, the same one he had originally, & there might be a bill or two that gets direct debited out of that -- but not much £££ in his sole acct...both salaries go to the joint account now & most of the bills paid from that.  I still have a sole acct in the USA -- for possible sake of convenience when we go there -- but it's virtually empty of $$$ right now.

We didn't do joint accounts until we married though.  If one is co-habiting, I wouldn't recommend joint accounts unless you have some sort of legal domestic partnership agreement in place.  I've just been in too many co-habitation situations before that went south & unfortunately you don't always have the same legal/financial rights in that situation as you do in marriage.  Just my opinion.

We do both--we each have seperate accounts and we have a joint. They are all at the same bank, Lloyd's. I am still paid in dollars (I work for a US company)so that goes into my own account. It was just easier for us to do it this way.

I have a joint account, because when I moved here it was the only way I could get a bank account

I have to admit, it is a bit scary for me. I have always had my own bank accounts I was in a relationship with someone for 17 years before my husband and I were together, and we always kept our money separately.  (We had a small joint account, but that was mostly for legal proof of the relationship because we were a same-sex couple.)

I earn more money than my husband, and we don't always agree exactly on how money should be spent, so sometimes I can get a little upset when he's spent 'my' money on something that I didn't think we needed.  But discussing finances, and learning to make compromises, is an important part of marriage.  Talking and making compromises about everything is an important part of marriage. 

When we were living together but unmarried, we split things 50-50 and kept separate accounts.   That went on for three years until we got married.  After we were married, everything went in the same kitty.  I liked the earlier post about working towards the same goal. That's how I feel about it.  It doesn't matter who makes more money.   

It comes down to your comfort level.  There are good reasons to keep your money separately and there are good reasons to keep it together. 

We do both--we each have seperate accounts and we have a joint. They are all at the same bank, Lloyd's. I am still paid in dollars (I work for a US company)so that goes into my own account. It was just easier for us to do it this way.

Sorry to hijack, but I was curious how you pay in your US dollars into your British Lloyds account?  Or is it some kind of offshore American $$ account?

Ta,
Matt