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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is this a fair way to split finances?

651 replies

BittySpider · 22/01/2025 16:02

It’s my Son and his partner so I know it’s realistically none of my business but had an convo with him today and wondering if I am being unfair thinking this is unreasonable?

My Son and his partner are getting married in the summer. The live together. The topic of finances came up today as we were discussing the wedding and we have offered them a few K towards it.

He told me that the way they have always split their finances is that they have a joint account both wages are paid into. All direct debits for bills come out of that account including house, bills, subscriptions etc. Food shop money also comes out of that. Then they both transfer themselves the exact same amount from the joint account on pay day and this is to cover all personal expensive such as their phones, petrol, coffees, clothes etc. He said they don’t take from the joint unless absolutely necesssary and if one of them runs out they might say to the other can I borrow a tenner and then on payday they will give it the other person back out of their personal allowance.

I asked about takeaways or date nights and he said one person will usually cover it out of their “pocket money” but they don’t take it out of the joint unless it was a special treat like an anniversary. All holidays and other joint costs come out of the joint but as they’re getting married all of wedding costs are being paid from the money building up in the joint account. He said if one of them had their car break down then they’d take money out of the joint to fix it too. He also said they both have their own personal savings accounts too but these are currently neglected due to paying for wedding.

FWIW my DIL earns much more than him. DS doesn’t earn much more than minimum wage. I know it’s none of my business so I won’t say anything but AIBU to think this is a bit tight? Personally I think bills should be split proportionately to what they earn. The amount that they take out each for pocket money isn’t a lot and he’d have a lot more left over if they split it differently.

OP posts:
Penguinmouse · 22/01/2025 17:02

BittySpider · 22/01/2025 16:07

I feel like she should be covering more of the bills and leaving him more left over as she earns more though?

They transfer the same amount out of the account though? If she puts in £3000, he puts in £2000 and their bills are £1000 then they withdraw the same amount from the account, your son is up.

jolota · 22/01/2025 17:03

You keep saying he'd have more if they split it proportionally but is that just for household bills?
Would he still be able to save & split the holidays they have without using her extra income that is currently sitting in the joint account?
They have an equal amount for 'personal' expenditure which seems pretty fair to me.
Your DIL could probably have far more for her own personal use too if they split the bills proportionally.
Then they'd be having a conversation about him not being able to afford holidays or to fix his own car?
I think that if your son is happy with the setup then I wouldn't be interfering or whispering in his ear about what he should or shouldn't be getting.
Honestly, this is far fairer than most of these financial breakdowns I usually see.

PeloMom · 22/01/2025 17:04

she has the same spending money as him; they’re both contributing to the wedding (him significantly less so). Her money is in the JOINT account, not her personal one. What’s your issue? Why should he have more spending money?

Snorlaxo · 22/01/2025 17:04

The “extra” money that you think your son is being cheated out of is “building in the joint account” That means 50% of the balance is his should the relationship fail.

You mention takeaways and date nights coming out of personal spends being weird, maybe they are cutting back because of the wedding ?

If DIL has a job that requires her to spend lots on clothes, grooming etc then your son is also benefitting from that coming out of her personal spends. Eg a lawyer may need her hair cut and coloured regularly and to wear clothes that aren’t from Primark.

GreenYellowBrown · 22/01/2025 17:04

You’re going to be a nightmare mother in law 🤦‍♀️ If you keep nit-picking like this, be prepared to not see much of any future grandchildren 🤷‍♀️

WhyIhatebaylissandharding · 22/01/2025 17:05

It all depends on what is happening with the remaining money - if the DIL is saving in her own name then he is worse off. If all the balance is joint savings then he is getting a good deal.

Greyish2025 · 22/01/2025 17:06

BittySpider · 22/01/2025 16:12

But if it was the other way around and the male was the higher earner then I think his low earning partner would expect him to transfer a lump sum of money to her every pay day?

No they wouldn’t, not unless they were a stay at home parent and not earning anything
Do you think your son wants his partner to give him a lump sum at the end of each month, very emasculating

backawayfatty1 · 22/01/2025 17:06

We work in a similar way, we share everything. It works perfectly for us. We have joint savings. Life changes & we are a pair. I've been the higher earner before & now my husband is. We want a life together & have shared values & priorities, including finances. I don't get the people that have one person living their best life & the other person struggling to survive when married or planning to marry.

SouthLondonMum22 · 22/01/2025 17:07

You'd absolutely hate our setup then. I'm the higher earner and we split everything 50/50 so I naturally end up with more after bills are paid for.

Unless someone's earning potential has reduced due to childcare then I don't see why the higher earner should have to pay more. If I was your son's wife, if he wanted more money, I'd expect him to earn more instead of expecting me to give him more money.

Doggymummar · 22/01/2025 17:08

Don't worry OP, your son will have a chance to contribute fairly when babies come along. Hopefully his income will have increased by then

DrPrunesqualer · 22/01/2025 17:08

That exactly how we sort our finances as we are a partnership
It’s never been an issue
We view all the money as ours, not his and hers.
Its fair

onwardsupwardsandbeyond · 22/01/2025 17:08

Sorry OP @BittySpider I just don't understand your reasoning at all.
They both take the same 'pocket' money from the common pot. Why is your DS worse off? You don't make sense, sorry.
Presumably the common pot is almost like a savings for them that they only then dip into when really needed.

Greyish2025 · 22/01/2025 17:08

GreenYellowBrown · 22/01/2025 17:04

You’re going to be a nightmare mother in law 🤦‍♀️ If you keep nit-picking like this, be prepared to not see much of any future grandchildren 🤷‍♀️

Oh absolutely!
I can only imagine what she is like in reality.
She should stay out of their business and stop asking about their finances, your DIL is not a cash cow, despite what you think

Sounds like OP Dosen’t like her DIL

EverythingElseIsTaken · 22/01/2025 17:09

OPs DS and future DIL are being very sensible with their finances. A proportional split of the bills would leave the DS with much less “personal” money.
As others have said, it appears that OP does not like her son’s fiancée and may well be training up to be the MIL from hell.

honeylulu · 22/01/2025 17:09

OP this is the one pot method favoured by many mumsnetters. Everything into the same pot, what's not spent on shared costs is divided equally for disposable income. What is not fair about it?

Your son is literally getting a "lump sum" because DIL is only allocating herself the same disposable income as him. Without her subsidy, his disposable income would be less.

I can't fathom what your issue is, or are you unhappy that anything aside from the allotted disposable money stays in the joint account? If so why is that unfair to your son? Why do you think he's more entitled to scoop out more of it than DIL? That money is sitting there for their joint wedding and car repairs/boiler repairs etc. Very sensible. It's a JOINT account, not DIL's account. I'm sure if either of them felt strongly that the disposable money isn't enough for their collective leisure activities they could discuss increasing it, but it would still be an equal amount.

Pollyanna123456 · 22/01/2025 17:09

If they both have the same amount of personal pocket money - you can't say fairer than that and your son is getting a good deal there because if things were split proportionally his pocket money would also diminish proportionately.

Motherofdragons24 · 22/01/2025 17:10

BittySpider · 22/01/2025 16:22

You are all saying he’s better off but he isn’t! The money he gets to keep is far smaller than what he would keep if they paid % towards bills and kept their own money after that. I don’t understand why things like joint meals and takeaways have to be paid by themselves when she’s the higher earner and all of her money is in the joint. It seems madness to me.

I know I am old fashioned hence why I won’t say anything. When the kids were younger I kept child benefit and DH transferred me a lump of money on pay day and he paid for the rest. I know the world has changed since then. It still seems a bit off to me. But I am happy if he is happy.

I’m sorry I really don’t understand why you can’t understand this. Yes he would have more if they paid a % of the bills each but then they wouldn’t have savings. Essentially they put everything into the same pot pay the bills with it, take the same out as “pocket money” and then between them live off this in the month with the rest being savings? Surely this is more sensible than just continuously dipping into the joint account when they run out because it makes each of them try to live within their agreed budget. And that then means she is contributing more to the saving bundle than him. How on earth can this be unfair to him?

AmaryllisNightAndDay · 22/01/2025 17:10

It seems very fair to your son. In fact the higher earner is putting in more to the pot, and they are both taking out the same amount.

What is "tight" about it? Apart from the fact they are both on a tight budget to pay for their wedding?

if it was the other way around and the male was the higher earner then I think his low earning partner would expect him to transfer a lump sum of money to her every pay day?

No, that used to happen when most married women didn't have jobs at all and joint bank accounts were unusual. That was in my mother's day and I'm probably old enough to be your mother. You're right about one thing - you are very out of date!

I also feel like it’s degrading to have to ask your partner to borrow money if you run out of your “pocket money”!

They both get "pocket money" so it's equal. They can both afford the same number of take-aways and other treats. Of course each partner should ask the other if they want to overspend their half of the budget. That's respectful not degrading. And paying it back later is good management.

Your son has a better head for money than you do. He's doing very nicely out of this arrangement!

Doggymummar · 22/01/2025 17:10

SouthLondonMum22 · 22/01/2025 17:07

You'd absolutely hate our setup then. I'm the higher earner and we split everything 50/50 so I naturally end up with more after bills are paid for.

Unless someone's earning potential has reduced due to childcare then I don't see why the higher earner should have to pay more. If I was your son's wife, if he wanted more money, I'd expect him to earn more instead of expecting me to give him more money.

I agree with you. My oh earns about £80k and I work part time earning £45k we split everything 50/50 but he is good about paying for treats and holidays, also I run a car and he doesn't but he smokes and I don't. I just prefer to pay half, he would happily pay more but I think if I want more I should do more hours.

Rewis · 22/01/2025 17:11

I asked about takeaways or date nights and he said one person will usually cover it out of their “pocket money” but they don’t take it out of the joint

This is the only weird part. What they're doing is fair and it defiantly benefits the lower earner as it should.

Motherofdragons24 · 22/01/2025 17:12

Do you know I’ve never thought of this way to manage money in a couple before but it seems very sensible and very fair to my, might suggest it to my DH who is the much much higher earner! And I think it would be a great way of living within your means and stopping unnecessary spending.

CombatBarbie · 22/01/2025 17:12

I don't understand how he can be worse off if they have the same freedom money. Unless she's putting a chunk into her own personal savings?

ABunchOfBadBitches · 22/01/2025 17:12

Someone play Latto - Brokey

SheWasPureSound · 22/01/2025 17:13

BittySpider · 22/01/2025 16:22

You are all saying he’s better off but he isn’t! The money he gets to keep is far smaller than what he would keep if they paid % towards bills and kept their own money after that. I don’t understand why things like joint meals and takeaways have to be paid by themselves when she’s the higher earner and all of her money is in the joint. It seems madness to me.

I know I am old fashioned hence why I won’t say anything. When the kids were younger I kept child benefit and DH transferred me a lump of money on pay day and he paid for the rest. I know the world has changed since then. It still seems a bit off to me. But I am happy if he is happy.

Have you ever considered it’s so they have a pot of money incase she goes in Mat leave / changes jobs / looses her job ?! Stop being so narrow thinking.

VonHally · 22/01/2025 17:16

What in the name of????

I cannot believe that an adult child about to get married would discuss/reveal practically every nuance of his joint and several income/spending with his mother!

Did you demand to know or how did the topic come up to end up being discussed at such length? Did you reciprocate and tell him about every penny in your own household?

At the risk of sounding off the wall, I'm going to tell you to BUTT RIGHT OUT of their financial lives or it will end in tears. Leave it at that and let them get on with their independent lives.

I actually cannot believe this happened! But you don't like your future DIL anyway, do you? Be honest here.