To ask how you split finances if you work part time?

[Iamnottheone]

I have been a SAHM (a joint decision by the way) for the past five years whilst my children were little.

I have now returned to work part time and just wondered how people split the finances with dh/DP with this arrangement?

I only earn about 25%of what DH earns. I was thining that what i earn could be set aside for the extras like holidays, work on the house, etc? We share finances jointly pretty much anyway but don't want it to look like I'm not contributing to the bills, etc fairly. If it makes any difference, we are comfortable on DH'S wage alone, my income is just extra on top of that.

We have a joint account . Any significant purchases are discussed but otherwise we know roughly that we have enough money for day to day purchases without checking / questioning .

DH pays proportionnel to his earnings as do I so we end up with the same disposable after bills. SO £17 each!

We have always just put everything together; when we first met I was earning more than DH. Now, DH earns significantly more than me - hopefully in the very near future we should be earning around the same amounts and then when he retires before me I'll be the main earner again. We each spend from the joint account with any larger purchases discussed.

A 25% increase in household income is significant!

I would sit down together and work out how to make the best of it. All money in same pot, make sure you take account of your extra expenses: travel to work, lunches, tights etc. Then decide how to use the family uplift: save for future / rainy day / next car / house improvement/ next house or whatever. Otherwise it might get absorbed or frittered away without you really noticing the impact.

Dh works full time, I work 0.6, he earns significantly more. All money into one pot for household expenses, any remainder into joint savings and we both get equal 'pocket money' into our individual accounts. Has served us well through every phase of marriage so far.. (both full-time, DH made redundant, me on mat leave, me on unpaid leave when DD ill) If finances are tight then pocket money and savings are reduced.

We put everything together, pay everything, have equal 'pocket money' that we spend as we wish.

Ditto

Our bills are 2k
I get 1050
Partner gets 2k
So I pay 600
He pays 1400

It how we worked it

We have shared savings accounts but separate current accounts so we have some privacy about buying each other presents etc. It also means we’re not stumped if we lose a card or it appears we’ve been scammed and need to freeze one account. We never use credit cards so it’s not an issue but I don’t even have a credit card.
It’s all shared money though and we have access to each other’s accounts online and just transfer between accounts if we want more for some reason. We agreed long ago whompaid for what out of each account and it works quite well with us generally continuing to pay those same costs. As costs have disappeared- mortgage, school, tuition fees etc - we’ve just paid that amount into investments.

It is the family's money and is spent as such

I do not know or care which of us spends more than the other
the kids get what they need

One account. It all goes in, we save a chunk into a couple of different places, then we spend. When it's all gone, we stop spending until the next chunk comes in. If I wanted to spend more that £100 or so I'd probably say something first.

How are you handling finances at the moment? Does it all come out of his personal account? If you don't already have one, I would suggest a joint account that each of you pay into. Your salary could still go into your individual accounts and you just set up a standing order to transfer e.g. 75% of your salaries into the joint account. Then it's fair no matter what your salaries are. Then switch any bills, holidays and other expenses to come out of the joint account.

I am a SAHM, but even when I worked FT and PT, myself and my partner have always had a single joint account. Everything shared and both our financial needs met equally.

I never get the 'one pot, we all have equal spends' thing. Today for example I took my two to soft play after school, weather was grotty. 16 quid for us all, bus fares there, another £8 on daylight robbery snacks etc. I also got toddler a magazine when we were out, and ordered my older one a dress from a catalogue she wanted that was on sale.

All of that was discretionary- yes they need clothes and food but we could have spent nil today.

So does it come out of the joint pot or my fun money? How much proportion of the income once bills are paid is reasonable to spend on kids fun things...what do you do if you each have a different level of normal/extravagant etc?

DH earns several times what I do. He is a spender, I am a saver. We each put a % of our salary into a joint account for bills and the rest of our salary stays in our individual accounts for us to spend as we wish. Standing orders set up. No hassle, no confrontations. Have done this for 20 years.

We have money in a couple of accounts but ultimately everything is shared, no questions asked apart from larger purchases obviously.

I'm self-employed so I suppose my idea of using the money that I earn for extra things is because I don't want to come to rely on that income as it isn't reliable.

All money divided down for different things eg holidays, bills, petrol.

I add to the fun stuff and general kids stuff... Savings.

I pay for the the food each week.
I put more towards holiday and spending money.
Dh wage is the work horse for mortgage etc.

On the hop I like way you call it an uplift.

It is significant and I agree its best to funnel it appropriately and not let it get absorbed into thin air.

@Thindragon in our house that's definitely joint pot type stuff.

Joint account, we spend what we need. I also manage the family finances, did all childcare, cook, clean (well hired the cleaners in recent years) and do the elder care paperwork too for his family so I don't feel guilty.

I was a SAHM for years so DHs wages paid everything and he transferred money to me for my spends etc. Now I work P/T I transfer back money to him which goes in the holiday/savings/whatever fund. He earns over 4x as much as me

Currently on mat leave but I'm the breadwinner. We are recently married with newborn and new house (!) so we are getting a joint account into which our monthly salaries will be paid (DH will be SAHD so maybe only a little from him). That account will pay for everything, except an equal amount of "pocket money" to our own accounts for our own spending.

Things are going to be tight as I'm going back part-time but hopefully we'll have an improved quality of life.

We both contribute a monthly amount to the joint account to cover bills and most expenses. We increase it when our earnings increase, and I try to transfer any excess to joint savings.

DH earns 6 times more than me. its all just in one account where all bills are paid from. money is then put in savings after bills. never crossed our minds to say you pay this, i'll pay that etc.

i buy whatever i want as does DH, i spend about £200 pcm on hair/beauty treatments, clothes, make up, stuff that i want etc. if it was over £200, i'd keep dh informed.

Joint account that all bills are paid from. We consult each other before big purchases