How should my fiancee and I organize our finaces once we get married?

Question

We each have our own checking and savings accounts, and once we got engaged we established joint checking and savings too. I think 6 accounts for the two of us is a little much...so how can we organize our finances while still having a "small" sense of individuality? We're considering merging our savings accounts, but keeping separate checking accounts as our own "piggy banks." The bulk of our paychecks will go to our joint accounts to pay for bills, food, etc...while a small percent will go to our individual accounts. Good idea? What have some other newly weds done?

Answer 1

10% of what each of you earn should be set aside for savings. You should have at least 3 months salary set aside as an emergency fund.
these can be joint .. but there should be mutual agreement on what these funds be used for. In your general bill payment account, you should probably agree on any purchase over a certain amount requires consent. i.e. expenditure over $100 - other than monthly expenses, requires some discussion.
An easy read is the Wealthy Barber. Recommend it if you want to work towards buying a home and handling emergencies of life.
each of you should have a mad money account which doesn't require "permission" to use on what you each feel is necessary.

Answer 2

We went for one savings and one checking account from the beginning and never regretted it. However, until you are married I would NOT have ANY joint account.

Once you are married, if you want a sense of individuality and think that finances are the area, I would suggest joint checking and separate savings. Savings is a good piggy bank and checking should be used for bills and day to day living expenses, not individual things.

Remember marriage should be seen as a partnership, not planning for divorce or individuality. There are many other ways to be individualistic like going out once a month with friends from pre-marriage, trips alone or with biological family, etc.

In our marriage (not our not mine) we do things without each other in the home and outside. He may be reading and I am watching TV or on the phone; or he is watching one TV and I another. Because you are married does not make you conjoint twins, rather two parts that together make one fantastic whole.

Answer 3

I've been married about 6 years, and here's what we've done, and it's working beautifully. First of all, when you are married, things go from being mine and his to being ours. When you think about things in that way, it makes things easier, and you'll have phenomenal results.

I would merge your checking and savings accounts so you are working with just one each. If you keep separate accounts open that opens the door for you hide money from each other, and that's not a good thing to do.

The two of you should sit down together and make a budget of all of your expenses. This list includes all of your bills, debts, and savings. Your spending should then equal your income. You can include some "blow" money for both of you each month. Then you can each do whatever you want with that money. When it's gone for the month, you're done until the next month.

I think it's incredibly important for you to both be involved in the finances so there are no surprises. I'd also like to recommend that you both read The Total Money Makeover and/or Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey. He covers these concepts very well and can teach you how working together you can accomplish amazing things in your marriage.

I wish you the best of luck in starting your life together!

Answer 4

My wife and I have been married for almost 2 years... prior to us getting married, we also established a joint savings and checking account. We used that account to pay for the wedding stuff, etc.

Now, 2 years later, we still have our "6" accounts, also. When we get paid, we deposit from our "individual" account to our "joint" account the money needed for bills, etc. What is left over, is for my use or hers. We also have a set amount each month that goes into our savings.

Six accounts may sound excessive, but with on-line access and transferring so easy, it is not to hard to manage.

The best thing about maintaining your own accounts is the ability to buy (or spend) without accounting to your spouse. Money is the cause of many marital issues these days, so why add the additional stress!

Good Luck!

Answer 5

Married or not, before you open a joint account, make sure that each one of you is trustworthy enough to the other.

A joint account isn't one to be messed without behind the other person's back, and you need to be sure to tell the other person what you are about to do in advance, it it will all result in overdraft fees and can even become criminally liable.

My ex-husband and I had a joint account. Then he started to write hot checks all over the place and I had to abruptly close my account, because there was no way I would able to cover the checks that were circulating out there. It ruined my credit and it is a miracle that I wasn't criminally charged for my ex-husband's actions.

I'm glad I'm out of his life and remarried now, but I did swear that I would NEVER, EVER share a checking account again. My husband now understands and we both have our separate accounts, for which I give him my money and he's responsible to pay the bills.

It is truly not worth the aggravation.

Answer 6

Please take Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace course or take a look at his book, Total Money Makeover. It gives great ideas about managing a newly married couple's finances. Remember that the number one cause of fights or disagreements in a marriage are related to money. You have taken a big step by acknowledging that you are concerned about this issue.

Please take time to sit down before marriage and discuss money planning (different word for budgeting). Everyone needs to have input...REAL input into the discussion. There is always one person that is better suited to managing and keeping control of the family's budget, but BOTH need to have input. Each party should have a portion of the budget to "blow" or not have to answer to, however, the big items such as food, mortgage, clothing, etc., should be planned out and included in a budget. This way you can control debt, too. Avoidance of additional debt is the best way to go. There are so many factors involved, but if you do it together, you can work out a plan that both of you can live with. Then schedule "maintenance" meetings on a regular basis to assure yourselves that the plan is working; whether it needs some amendment; whether it was realistic in the first place; and to assure both parties that they are included in the entire process.

Answer 7

This is what my situation looks like. I had 2 saving accounts, 2 checking accounts before coming to the relationship, I moved around and so I needed the one at home and the one where I was living. Anyways he had one checking account period. We now have a joint account for all the bills and then we have 3 savings accounts, one is joint and two are mine, and I have my personal checking account that is really now just used becuase it is close to my parents and I can send them money to put into it. Our credit cards are all joint minus one that is mine. I personally think that is way too many accounts for us but we have circumstances that require me to have a seperate account. Why do you need your own "piggy bank" If you are using it as a way to like buy gifts for the other person then yeah okay.... but DH and I have one account and he buys me stuff and we share the money and the other account is there for emergencies. I would personally suggest keeping your seperate savings accounts, and having one checking account. That is just too many accounts to have, or maybe merging your savings and and checkings and then having one seperate checking for misc things. You are placing your money into too many accounts IMO.

Answer 8

you should organize your finances before marriage, this is the number one cause for divorce. i would recommend seeing a QUALIFIED financial planner- even if you dont have loads of cash. discuss what each of you thinks the others financial role is, and see do they line up? who makes what and where should it go. set goals and work backwards, you cant accomplish anything without a plan. you also need to review your financial situations individually. susan orman has some excellent resources also glinda bridgeforth. her book is aimed mostly at black women, but i know people men and women black and non-black it has helped.not to sound negative, but i think there is nothing wrong with seperate accounts as long as you review the statements monthly together when doing other bills, if he wants to hide something hell do it anyway. i think separate accounts are cool because you can save your money if theres something xtra you want. also i think everything does change to beng ours but that doesnt mean you have hand over your brain too, theres nothing wrong with having a little independence.

Answer 9

Having two accounts makes it far easier to manage. That way you don't accidentally overdraw an account because you're unaware of what the other has done. It's also better to make them both joint accounts for easier access if you need to for some reason. Most banks now give you monthly consolidated statements with all your accounts and allow you to set up online banking where you can view both. Transferring funds from one to the other can happen instantly online or by phone.

Answer 10

I personally look after my family budget and all spending items need to be accounted for so that at any point in time you know where you are. Requires discipline but that's the only way.
To help you with budgeting I'd recommend a personal finance software by Australian business Parcus Group.
Easy to use program with features including budgeting, financial planning, real estate analysis, shares valuation, life insurance...
Costs US$24 so it's not a huge investment but a good value for money.
You can get it on http://www.parcusgroup.com/index.html

Regards