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Couples who have a fairly big difference in earnings - how do you split the bills, mortgage, etc?

140 replies

QuakingQuiche · 30/03/2020 17:07

Couples who have a fairly big difference in earnings - how do you split the bills, mortgage, % of house share you own, meals out, holiday etc.?

One person pays? Both do 50:50? You adjust by % of household income each person contributes? Is it different for different types of spending?

Please state if married or not, cohabiting or not, if you’ve got children or not, how long you’ve been together and if the contributions from each person has changed over time?

Fairly taboo topic but interested in how others do it.

OP posts:
stellabelle · 31/03/2020 08:23

Married - he always earned more than me. Two kids. We've always just put the money into a pot and shared it all. I can't see the point of being married but still divvying up what you pay and he pays.

Myfriendanxiety · 31/03/2020 08:27

DH earns 3 times my wage because I only work 2 days a week and look after our 2 children. I put 50% of my take home pay into the joint account to pay bills and keep 50% for my spending (clothes, eating out, kids clothes etc). DH wage goes straight into a joint account where the mortgage is taken from, and both car finances. We put some in savings and then the rest is for both of us to spend. I usually spend the money in my account first then when it’s gone start working on the joint account cash!

Raffathebear · 31/03/2020 08:30

I save 90% of my wages and he pays fot everything. His money is our money, my money is my money. He is fine with this btw because he knows i am financially vulnerable if something happens to him.

NamechangeOnceMore · 31/03/2020 08:31

Married, 2 kids. I earn £85k working part-time; he's on close to £200k, full-time. Our earnings go into a joint account and we spend from that account. Savings are joint too, apart from our tax set aside accounts (we are self-employed). He has never once made me feel bad about the fact that he earns twice what I do. We are a team. To us, marriage means pooling resources.

Chiyo666 · 31/03/2020 08:34

Our earnings were similar, separate finances, 50/50.
If I have another relationship it would be 50/50 regardless.

BlueCookieMonster · 31/03/2020 08:42

I earn the larger amount, always have. Dh has been in and out of work (sometimes by choice for family reasons, and sometimes not). However, all money has always been pooled collectively. But we each are in charge of different aspects of it, so dh is in charge of saving etc, I’m in charge of finding the best deals for utilities. It works for us.

Runnerduck34 · 31/03/2020 08:43

DH now earns 3-4 times what I do. When we got together over 20 years ago he still earned more than me but the gap was much smaller , around 10k. When we first moved in together we had a joint account for bills that, from memory, I think he put in more to than me but pretty soon we decided just to pool all our money together, and certainly by the time we were married we were doing this. So basically all income is a shared resource and we both have equal spending rights. We have 4dc and this was very important to me when I became a sahm for a few years, i wouldn't have stayed at home without it and i don't think he would have furthered his career in the same way if he'd had to do 50% of the childcare.

Sushiroller · 31/03/2020 08:44

I make roughly double and we are currently engaged.
He insists on a 50/50 split of household costs but i buy us "treats" (his birthday present is normally a holiday of some sort for us)

Once married everything will be in one pot with equal access after bills/mortgage pensions and savings etc. comes out.

Equimum · 31/03/2020 08:45

Ever since we got engaged, our money has pretty much all gone into two joint accounts (equally). I am currently a SAHM, but this was always the case and we share everything financially. If I go back to work, DH will a most certainly still be earning 4-5 time what I earn, and the additional money I bring in, will be ours, not mine.

Enko · 31/03/2020 08:52

Dh pays the Bill's my money is spend on the kids and silliness it works well for us

Nonstopmum9 · 31/03/2020 09:00

Married 10 years
Together 17
Two DC
He earns double I do.
Everything goes into joint account. We take £800 each a month for our own accounts and spend or save what we want from that.(he goes out more and I shop more)
Everything else is paid for from our joint account.

Aria2015 · 31/03/2020 09:15

We used to earn the same but now I work part time and dh full time. We combined our money when we moved in together before we were married and have kept it that way ever since. I don't even think about earning less, it's just all 'our' money and is in one account. We never fight about money thankfully as we both have the same attitude towards spending and we trust each other. Dh does get an annual bonus. Most of it just goes to our savings but he also usually treats himself to something with some of it as well which is fine with me.

Sihaya · 31/03/2020 09:21

Married 19 years, 1 child, no mortgage or rent.

I earn ~£160k (with ~£30k annual bonus) as a full time employee and DH £20-28k as a freelancer. Another £15k comes in annually as part of an insurance payout which is earmarked for school fees.

All the money goes into a joint account, from which all bills and purchases are paid for. We also have a joint credit card with me as the primary card holder, paid in full monthly from this account.

Holidays, cars, furniture, home appliances and other large purchases are discussed before buying. Fortunately we have similar taste and priorities so not much conflict over what to buy.

SummerRemembered · 31/03/2020 09:44

Married 13 years, no dc. I earn £43k, DH earns £24k. Our mortgage, bills etc are paid from a joint account, along with all food shopping and petrol and we both pay into this account with me paying £150 more than DH. The rest of our money is ours to do as we will and we tend to split meals out, big household purchases etc 50/50. I pay for our holiday every year but once we are there, all costs are 50/50.

isseywith4vampirecats · 31/03/2020 09:56

couple house belongs to OH mortgage free he earns more than me and from the start I have paid for food each month and he pays the bills, bigger than normal night out socialising ie gigs holidays etc we go halves normal night out sometimes I pay sometimes he pays

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