Help "evenly split" my wife and Is finances

For those topics that don't have a place in any of the other forums.

Moderator: Aitrus

Buckeyedog
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2013 2:42 pm

Re: Help "evenly split" my wife and Is finances

Post by Buckeyedog »

We do what the OP is contemplating. I just make up a simple spreadsheet with the monthly bills and then just divide it up best you can based on percentage of take home pay. We alternate on the mortgage, but then she pays some bills, I pay others. You can do the same for big things as they come along too if you want. Then she has her $$ and I have mine. We also each put some away monthly into a Schwab/Fidelity account. Works for us.

User avatar
dseery
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2016 7:24 pm

Re: Help "evenly split" my wife and Is finances

Post by dseery »

For a happier marriage, pool all your money in one account and agree together on big purchases.
Following the leaders who weathered the storms...

Timber82
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2017 2:39 pm

Re: Help "evenly split" my wife and Is finances

Post by Timber82 »

Thanks for the feedback everyone great insight, and I agree that no matter how you do it its vital you both be on the same page. I would be curious if this is a generational thing or what since some do it like us others do it differently, I just couldnt imagine every purchase being something we have to talk through.

As to the why, we have both seen more marital fights over money than we both care to remember, so its sort of a psychological thing for us both to have money that belongs to just us. It may be because we met later in life when we had both been on our own for a bit. Im not saying every idea doesnt have merit but we just always felt it was good to have seperate pots one his, hers and ours. And this is not me asserting myself on her, I actually brought the money discussion up a long long time before we talked marriage because I saw it heading that way.

Regarding the situations being flipped it wasnt until 2 years ago that our finances switched and I became the top earner. One thing we also both agreed the debt we entered into the marriage with was ours and we would pay our own debt down. Neither one of us has ever been made to feel bad for earning less.. it may be weird for some, it just works for us.

I think I am leaning more towards all the money goes into 1 account and we give ourselves a certain amount each month.

Thanks for all the insight everyone! And yes we are furiously chipping away at our debt a few years back we didnt have much left after our 401k and all the bills were paid its nice to not have it like that. My long term is to enable us both to be able to contribute max to our 401k/tsp.

User avatar
ArrieS
Posts: 1072
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 10:56 am

Re: Help "evenly split" my wife and Is finances

Post by ArrieS »

I will offer one more suggestion. Three accounts. The primary account will be where most of both your paychecks will go. This would be for bills but also family money. Second, which is secondary is where you would deposit personal money for the month directly from the paychecks and where it will slowly build up.

How you decide wouldn't be based on any percentage or anything, but rather how much you each feel you would need from each paycheck for yourself.

In other words, most of the money goes to your shared account because that is both of you, but a little for yourselves. A more symbolic divide with most of your money (commitment) to the marriage and the smaller amount to yourselves.
OCTOBER: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks in. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February. - Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar

Scorpio70
Posts: 432
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2015 11:49 am

Re: Help "evenly split" my wife and Is finances

Post by Scorpio70 »

My wife pays the utilities. We are both Certified Pre-owned so we don't mix our money. If I die she gets it all.

Timber82
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2017 2:39 pm

Re: Help "evenly split" my wife and Is finances

Post by Timber82 »

Aries, that is kind of what I alluded to. One primay joint account and each of us gets an amount to our own account this way the joing has lots of opportunity to grow beyond our monthly expenses.

Locked

Fund Prices2024-03-28

FundPriceDayYTD
G $18.15 0.05% 1.05%
F $19.08 -0.06% -0.74%
C $82.21 0.11% 10.55%
S $82.43 0.30% 6.92%
I $42.57 -0.24% 5.95%
L2065 $16.38 0.02% 8.37%
L2060 $16.39 0.02% 8.38%
L2055 $16.39 0.02% 8.38%
L2050 $32.73 0.01% 6.95%
L2045 $14.91 0.02% 6.58%
L2040 $54.38 0.02% 6.22%
L2035 $14.34 0.02% 5.79%
L2030 $47.67 0.02% 5.38%
L2025 $13.15 0.03% 3.43%
Linc $25.61 0.03% 2.82%

Live Charts

Pending Allocations

Under development. For now, you may view Pending Allocations by going to "fantasy TSP" and selecting "Leaderboard sort" of "Pending Allocations".