How do you manage your joint account?

[TheListeners]

So DH and I have two joint accounts. One pays all the bills. This one ticks over as salary arrives, direct debits go out with tiny bit left over.

The other account is for food, petrol and everything else. This one is a complete mess. We both spend from it and then I end up putting money from savings in to stop us going overdrawn. DH hates discussing it because he takes it as me blaming him for being profligate and then accuses me of being tight. It's a well worn argument that never gets resolved.

So if you share an account like this how do you manage it?

We have one account that all wages get paid into and all bills come out of, credit cards are linked to etc and I manage this. Dh and I have our own accounts and an amount each month is paid into these for personal spends. If you are on a budget you need to agree it and someone track it and say we've only got 50 pounds in the food budget. I use excel and update it weekly to ensure we have money for short and long term purchases and save when we can. Basically it has to be a joint decision but with one person keeping an eye on it.

We have a joint account and several other accounts , I manage them all and dh takes cash from my home stash if he needs money . He has got a debit card but he never uses it so it’s in my purse for safekeeping .

One joint account.
Both pay in to cover all monthly expenses inc food fuel gas all house bills debts etc etc.
We pay half each.

We then have seperate accounts we have the rest of our earnings in.

We also have a joint savings account that's currently emtpy thank you Covid.

If we need anything extra for us or kids etc we pay half each.

No arguing. If we overspend on food shopping come the end of the month and need some bits we both put half in each to cover the extra.

No joint account. I made that mistake once - never again!!

Also want to add the reason we have a joint for bills and seperate for personal is because dh is absolutely shit with money so will blow it on crap but questions how much a takeaway will be or stuff needed

He earns more than me but still I have money left each month and he doesn't.
I've bailed him out many times over the years and got so pissed off with it I set up the way I do it.

I deal with all the household finances and he can do what he likes with his own money once he's paid his share of everything.

The other reason we both pay half each even though he earns more is because never in my life have I ever relied on anyone to financially support me and that's how I like it.

If the shit hits the fan I know me and dc would be fine

The expenses that come out of the joint account are predictable things only: weekly groceries, petrol etc.

There’s a savings account linked to it - money is set aside for things that get paid annually like insurance (say £200 goes in every month because the infrequent payments total £2400).

We also have our ‘pocket money’ accounts. We manage those on our own and they pay for lunches, clothes, going out and other discretionary spending.

Salaries go into our individual accounts. We both have DD set up to automatically transfer an amount each (proportionate to our salaries as one earns significantly more) into joint account. All bills and joint expenses/living costs come from joint account. Savings are separate. Holidays are negotiated, based on what we can each afford and are happy with.

We both put the same amount of money into our joint account every month. This pays the mortgage, all bills, childcare, food, presents for kids etc, holidays, and any other family expenses. If it needs topped up we both put more in. Our own accounts pay for our cars, mobile phones, other personal bills etc, and we will both occasionally use it to buy a family meal, coffee out etc.

One joint account and one individual account each. All money paid into joint acct and then personal 'pocket' money transferred for both of us. Birthday money etc into own acts. Husband was in the forces and away for months at a time so this system meant I could do all the finances when he was away.
It also means we have some privacy on what we spend our own money e.g. expensive haircut for me which would make him squirm and new surfboard for him which I thought was extravagant. We have both had no fun money when there have been lean months so always fair including inheritance money.

One joint account for all the bills and expenses. Salaries go into sole accounts and each of us contributes an agreed amount into the joint as a standing order. Have a credit card that pays for food which we aim to pay off monthly from the joint account (just so I can monitor how much we spend).

I really do not understand pooling money. This way works. No arguments.

We sat down years ago and worked out exactly how much we need minimum in joint account for joint expenses, incl allowing for food/petrol which can vary. We added an extra buffer on top for accidentals, about £200 buffer. The total of that is what goes into our joint account every month from our individual accounts, split proportionately.

Have you sat down and done a budget with your OH, OP?

The bloke made such a mess of our joint account I made him close it. Thereafter we kept our finances completely separate. We worked out all our outgoings and he transferred 50% of the amount to me every month. He’s utter rubbish with money.

Both paid into the joint account, all bills come out of it. Then at the beginning of the month (payday) you get your money for any additional spending e.g. haircut, night away with friends, new clothes - you're 'allowed' anything, but you should 'declare' it at the beginning of the month and you get your money for it then.

Then, you get 'paid' £80 per week personal money from the joint account every Friday, this is for your petrol and general personal miscellaneous spending, drinks with friends, make up and the like. In addition, there is also £150 per week for the food shop, the person doing the food shop that week transfers it into their account, any change goes into a cash pot in the kitchen, you get top-up shops from there, not your personal money.

How much the bills, big-ticket items, £80 per person per week plus the food shop is added up at the beginning of the month. A couple of hundred is kept in the joint account as a buffer for random meals out, school trips, unexpected items, and the rest gets transferred to the savings. You don't touch the joint account at any other time as your money is already allocated!

It might seem a bit complicated but it's not really. We've done it this way for 20 years, we're never overdrawn and always have a bit left at the end of the month.

What you earn and pay in is irrelevant, e.g. when I was on maternity. You both get an equal share out!

It all sounds very complicated but we've been

We have our own accounts and a joint account. Salaries go into our own accounts, and all household costs (mortgage/ bills) are paid from the joint account. We have a ‘joint’ credit card (in DH’s name with a second card for me), and all food/ household costs are charged to the card which is paid off each month in full from the joint account.

We worked out how much we spend each month on bills & the other costs, and on payday we each transfer our share to the joint account (50:50 at the moment but this has varied). This means the money left in our personal accounts is for us to spend as we want.

Using the credit card means that if we have a more expensive month, when the bill comes in during the following month, we each put in extra to cover it so we’re rarely overdrawn.

I have a budget and I know how much we spend on food (too much) and petrol. It's everything else we buy and neither of us really manage it. My managing it is topping it up from savings. DH never looks at it. We do have personal spending accounts. It's the other stuff we have to buy that's the problem. We definitely spend too much and sometimes I know it's because we want rather than need it.

One joint current account, one joint credit card, one joint savings. Pretty much everything we own is joint. Makes life easier. My biggest bugbear is that you can't have joint "Mr & Mrs" bills anymore, bloody nuisance. However, neither of us are bi spenders, and we just use what we want, when we want it. Big purchases like cars are obviously discussed, but nothing else.

We don't have one and, after learning my lesson the hard way with exh, I will never have a joint account again.

The rent comes from OH's account and all other bills (which, give or take a pound or 2 amounts to the same value), come out of mine, everything else we need or want is a 50/50 split. I pay for the upkeep of my car and he pays for his.

That should of course be "big spenders" not "bi spenders".

The issue is with your DH, not the structure of your accounts.

We have agreements on spending we both stick to, so no arguments.

I'm afraid it just sounds as though you are living beyond your means. There's no solution to that other than budgeting properly.

We have one joint account which DH wages go into. Most bills come out of that. I also have an account which my wages go into. Some bills come out of that.

It balances out.

We have a joint current account and joint savings account then we each have a separate current account for things like treats, non-essentials. If we do any house projects we transfer from the savings account. If we ever get a text saying we're reaching zero on the main current account then we rein things in a bit to avoid dipping into the savings.

Me and DP have one joint account, one savings account then several investments in joint names.

Both our salaries are paid into the joint account and everything comes out of there.

We don't have separate, personal bank accounts.

We both just know what's in the account (DH looks online everyday - I have a rough idea) and we are both fairly frugal and would never go overdrawn or individually make a big purchase without ensuring we had the funds in the (joint) account first.

Finance is the one thing we have never argued over in 30+ years of marriage .... but we are very dull and never spend much* .... although my DH did spend over £250 on roof bars this morning how boring.

*Five years ago I made a resolution to only buy clothes, shoes etc from charity shops for a year - in fact I've kept to it ever since & only buy new bras/knickers.

We have a mono account which is a game changer as you can set pots of money for different things.

We have a bills pot which gets filled as soon as we're paid and all bills are paid from. We tag amends by what they are (food, clothes, entertainment etc) and check at the end of the month if we have spent roughly the expected amount.

We talk about big spends but (maybe more than £150) but have no rules about what we spend.