How do you handle finances in marriage?

Question

Do you and your husband/wife have a joint checking account? If so, how do you not overdraw? What are some of the benefits of each? Personal experience gladly welcome. Thanks!!

Answer 1

Yes, we have a joint everything. We have been married two years and it works out great. We haven't overdrawn because we know what we have to spend.

My last marriage? We had separate everything and he made way more money than me at the time, and it was awful. I got to see him buy whatever he wanted, and I had barely enough to buy the kids clothes (MY job). We were more like room mates than husband and wife.

Answer 2

Been married over 10+ years and tried many things, but this one seems to work the best.

First make use of your Bank's online services.
I know that Wells Fargo catagorizes your spending for you so you can see how much you spend on food, entertainment, home improvement each month. This comes in handy when creating a realistic budget.

Next, seperate out your monthly bills like: rent, electric, water, insurance. Find the total needed each month to cover these bills. By paying these on time your credit rating will go up.

Create a joint bank acct to only pay these bills.
Schedule your weekly deposits into this acct so they meet the due dates on your bills. NOTE: this should be the same amount every week so you get used to not having this money to spend on other stuff.

Create another joint bank acct to pay for all the misc. stuff that changes every month like food, clothes, entertainment ...

Lastly, create two seperate accts so that you can each have some personal money that you could use to buy anything from presents for each other or something special for yourself.

Now the most important part, make an excell spreadsheet that looks like a check registry for EACH bank account.
Date/ChK#/Description/Debit/Deposit/RUNNING TOTAL/Date Cleared the BANK

You will need to keep this updated on a daily at first until you get used to it.
By sorting by "Date Cleared the Bank" column you will know what your true available balance is and what is outstanding that could be cashed at any moment and ding you with an overdraft charge.
If you want email me and I will send you an example of what I use that breaks down both monthly and weekly. Note the Bill paying account will be more structured and the House Acct will be more like a running total.

Finally, by having all your acct in one bank you can transfer one acct to another if you run the risk of an overdraft.

Answer 3

We have a joint checking accout, actually we have a couple. 1 is strictly for our mortgage payment, and car payments which are automatically deducted from that account. Since my hubby takes care of those bills, I rarely even see that account. The other we use for the rest of our bills. We have the duplicate checks, so that he has the register (since he usually balances the checkbook) and I have the copies of the checks I've written. If I need to write what we consider to be a large check, I'll simply check with him to make sure the money's in the account before writing it. Every day or so, he'll go through my checkbook and record what I've written. I also don't use my debit card--I use my credit cards or cash, and usually I use cash. We operate on a "if we don't have the cash for it, we don't need it" policy.

Now some will say my husband is a chauvinist, and I'm totally dependent on him, and I should have my own system, and on and on and on. I've been accused of being too "June Cleaver" for the 21st century. All I can say to this is, it works for us. This system may not work for everyone, but it does for us. It took us a few years to figure it out though--and a mortgage payment bouncing.

Answer 4

In my opinion, the best thing is to have a joint checking account and then make a time to sit down together to go over what bills to pay each week. A marriage is supposed to be a partnership, so I don't believe in separate checking accounts. My husband doesn't like to deal with finances, and I've got a bachelor's degree in accounting, so I write most of the checks. But we also communicate with each other about our spending, and we use a bank where we can check our balance on-line every day, so it's almost impossible to overdraw. We have only 1 ATM card, and I carry that because I don't like to carry cash - but I don't "hog" it. If he needs it, he gets it.

Answer 5

Set up a joint account with both names for "joint responsibilites" ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By joint resp I mean - rent/mtg, utilies, household groceries/perishables (from soap to paint for a new look to a room in the house). Each of you should contribute on a monthly basis 50% of what the combination of set costs (exact figures) + 25% innto this joint account & it MUST be agreed that this account is ONLY for joint responsibilities!!! For example monthly expeses total $100 - each of you should be depositing $75.00. This way set costs are covered and then a nest egg builds to cover emergencies and or flexiable spending such as the living room needs a new coat of paint. Now if 25% is too much - that is not a set in stone % - look at your incomes & agree upon a %. The rest of the persons income goes into their own account with their own name - power of attorneys can always be written should an emergency arrise. Also be aware that if one person wants to contribute more to the joint account - that is okay too - but never less. Then it is a matter of respect for the agreement and trust in one another to abide by it. Say you decide to out to dinner - you can agree that there's enough money in joint account or if in the event that you want to surprise someone for an anniversary - take it out of your personal account as that is a gift - also cannot be tracked - hence the surprise ;-)

Answer 6

I have been married for almost 3 years and have seperate , well they are joint but each one of us handels their "own" account!!! We have a Excel file were we keep what bills are due when. It works out great since he and I have different ways of handling $$. He is more relaxed and I check mine almost everyday!!! We are happy this way. His pay goes into one and mine the other.
Once a month we sit down and go over the bills and we always let each other know what we have left and what we are spending. There has never been a financial fight this way, it works great!

Answer 7

Joint Banking. She's handles it. I don't have any checks. I make it, she spends it..........My philosophy is that what mine is her's and what's hers is mine. It's togetherness. I'd encourage you to get a joint account. I don't overdraw b/c she writes the check b/c she better at handling the money than I am. I can't balance a checkbook.

Answer 8

Best to have everything go into one account, and all bills go out. You know not to overdraw because there is an account book with a running balance!

Answer 9

My husband and I used to have a joint account and it was always being overdrawn (mainly b/c we did not know how to manage money).

I would suggest if you both work that you have separate accounts and split up the bills and that way you both know what you have in your accounts and money will not be something you argue about. For almost 7 years we fought about money until we did separate accounts.

Good luck.

Answer 10

My suggestion could be this, get the cheap that accomodates his spending judgements. Prioritize, first the fees, groceries and the different expenditures of living that are obligatory, then bypass away some for the savings account. the rest could be chop up between the two considered one of you. provide him money to do with despite he feels is needed or to splurge on himself for various issues. recommendations-set him with this concept and notice what he says. funds are continuously a no longer common subject in a marriage. I manage the funds in our companion and childrens and boy does my husband like to spend. it truly is a continuing warfare yet we've come to the contract that i discussed above some weeks in the past and so some distance it truly is working.