Do you have joint or separate accounts?

Lulu0802 · October 2009

I noticed in MD's post below that everyone kept telling her not to pay. I assume since her situation is so new that they haven't entirely split their finances yet (although I saw she has her own account). But it got me thinking... with so many people saying "Do not pay" or "Enjoy your free dinner" do those people not have joint accounts?

DH and I have 2 joint checking acconts and 1 joint savings account. We each have credit cards, but even if something is charged on one of them, it's paid off from the joint account. I always chuckle when DH says he wants to buy me something nice for my birthday or take me out to dinner, because it's not really "him" paying for it, it's "us". There is no more his and hers money, it's just ours.

So what do you guys have... joint or separate finances?

YAY! Baby K · October 2009

1 joint checking account and 2 savings joint account. We share all of our money

Gwyneddlesliegrace · October 2009

We have completely joint accounts, have since we were engaged.

Mrs.AKP · October 2009

everything's separate- no joint accounts. we each pay for specific bills each month that equal about the same total amount. i see no reason for a joint account, personally.

we were both "older" when we got married- i was 28, and DH was 40. we'd both lived on our own for a long time, and it seemed strange to stop having our separate accounts.

Impatientgal · October 2009

Both. We recently merged everything into our joint account. But I've started putting some money from my paycheck into my private account. Just in case.

devinator14 · October 2009

We have joint. I really feel strongly that when you get married you join everything.

EastCoastBride · October 2009

Seperate. We've been together 18 years, married 7, and we've always had seperate accounts.

The key is our budget. We have a joint budget and we know what we each bring in, what bills come out of what aaccounts, and what is left over at the end of the month.

It's still all "ours". Its' just easier for each of us to have our own account to spend from as we see fit. We tried a joint account once and it just did not work for us at all.

I know many people who have seperate accounts. It's not a given that being married means you have to have the same account.

Again- it's your big picture attitude about $$ and your overall budget taht really matters more. Where your money is kept or spent from is really not all that important. If you aren't on the same page financially - keeping your money together isn't going to fix that for you.

Fish4Fun · October 2009

A lot of couples have separate finances, but I don't understand it. I can't imagine marrying somebody fiscally irresponsible.

All our accounts are joint, except we each have our own credit cards because DH needs to build his credit history (never had a card until we got married). It is always "our" money. We don't do surprise gifts for each other, but we're both terrible secret keepers so it's more because of that than the money.

JARbaby · October 2009

We have our own accounts and a household account. We spilt the "fun" money evenly. All accounts are both checking and savings.

I never want to have to ask DH if I can have $ for groceries or to buy clothing or go out with friends.

ETA: Joint accounts do not imply his $ and my $. It is still all our money.

ncbelle · October 2009

We each have our own account and then one joint account. We each contribute to the joint account as needed - everything household/baby comes out of that account. Whatever is leftover in our personal accounts is ours to spend as we want - so clothes, "toys", etc. We also pay our gas money and health expenses out of our "personal" accounts (although that might eventually change).

I really like our set up. It allows each of us to spend money on things the other might find "frivolous" without feeling guilty but makes the "necessities" a joint responsibility.

ETA: We also each have our own credit cards as well as a joint card.

camrude · October 2009

We were separate checking for the first couple of years - then went to joint. Now we are going to have joint for all of our bills, but separate checking accounts for our personal stuff.

We have had a joint savings from the start.

IU_baby · October 2009

We each have separate checking accounts and separate credit cards with joint checking/savings and a joint credit card.

julia0402 · October 2009

Everything is joint and has been since we moved in together and got engaged. The only thing I don't like about it is I can't get DH a surprise present without him knowing about it!

risysmama · October 2009

We each have a joint checking and savings acct. and a personal checking and savings account. The joint checking account is only to pay bills with. DH gives me a set amount of $$ each month. Some stays in the checking account to pay bills and the rest goes into our joint savings. The bulk of our personal income stays in our personal accounts. If we go out to eat, it's either me paying or him paying, not joint funds.

Mrs.AKP · October 2009

EastCoastBride:

Seperate. We've been together 18 years, married 7, and we've always had seperate accounts.

The key is our budget. We have a joint budget and we know what we each bring in, what bills come out of what aaccounts, and what is left over at the end of the month.

It's still all "ours". Its' just easier for each of us to have our own account to spend from as we see fit. We tried a joint account once and it just did not work for us at all.

I know many people who have seperate accounts. It's not a given that being married means you have to have the same account.

Again- it's your big picture attitude about $$ and your overall budget taht really matters more. Where your money is kept or spent from is really not all that important. If you aren't on the same page financially - keeping your money together isn't going to fix that for you.

well said. ITA.

DAuger · October 2009

Joint account

kada626 · October 2009

We have joint accounts. Seperate would drive me nuts since I pay all the bills. Thanks to me, DH went from horrible credit to excellent.

I always put another name on accounts of mine that have money, that way in case I pass, they can easily get the money.

DH & I don't ask each other for money...we just take it. We would only discuss bigger purchases, about $250 or higher. It's never been a problem.

Meg41208 · October 2009

All of our money is in joint savings and checking accounts. We have one joint credit card, but we also have separate accounts that we use for buying each other gifts, personal expenses, etc but they all get paid out of our joint accounts. There is no my money or his money, it's all shared.

I have a family member who is a SAHM and has separate finances from her husband. Not sure how that works, since he is the only one with an income.

Lulu0802 · October 2009

julia0402:
Everything is joint and has been since we moved in together and got engaged. The only thing I don't like about it is I can't get DH a surprise present without him knowing about it!

This is why I made DH get his own credit card. Before I just had him as a user on my card. But I reconcile all the accounts and I'm anal about checking them every day or two to make sure there are no unauthorized charges. I went nuts not being able to balance the accounts around my birthday because he didn't want me to see what he got me. LOL!

kdiguise · October 2009

We have one joint account for things like bills, groceries, everyday things, etc. And we each have our own checking account for things like fast food, clothes, entertainment. At the beginning and middle of each month we both get the same amount of cash put into our separate accounts. That way, we each have the 'same' amount (unless you're saving) and we can use it however we want. It has really helped us cut down on unnecessary spending. And it's really nice for around holidays/birthdays so the other can't snoop

Leila'sMommy · October 2009

joint.

SportyChic24 · October 2009

DH and I each have our own checking and we have a savings together

etoussa · October 2009

We have joint accounts.

LMBESQ · October 2009

julia0402:
Everything is joint and has been since we moved in together and got engaged. The only thing I don't like about it is I can't get DH a surprise present without him knowing about it!

Exactly this!

MrsJMB · October 2009

For the first 2 years of our marriage everything was separate, but then we made all the accounts joint and closed our sole owner accounts. Makes everything MUCH easier (except surprise gifts!)

megs042107 · October 2009

We have joint checking and savings.

TheMRS0127 · October 2009

joint checking, separate savings

bobcatsteph · October 2009

Everything's joint.

mjlx207 · October 2009

We have joint checking and savings (which is dual signature). DH also has his own account to track expenses for his side business. I don't want more than one account, and don't really shop much without him, so having just the joint account is fine for us.

sweetpea7628 · October 2009

Fish4Fun:

A lot of couples have separate finances, but I don't understand it. I can't imagine marrying somebody fiscally irresponsible.

All our accounts are joint, except we each have our own credit cards because DH needs to build his credit history (never had a card until we got married). It is always "our" money. We don't do surprise gifts for each other, but we're both terrible secret keepers so it's more because of that than the money.

Haveing separate accounts doesn't mean one or both is fiscially irresponsible. DH and I both have separate accounts because that's what works for us. We are both good with our money and we've managed to do just fine this was for 3+ years.