Joint accounts or separate? What works for you?

[kelpie6333]

My husband and I both work full time and have separate bank accounts. We divvy up who pays for what expenses. He makes 3 x more than I do (but I still make a good salary) and he does pay proportionally more than I do for expenses. I am about to go on maternity leave and he has suggested giving me an 'allowance'. How do other people share money/expenses and does it work for you?

Always been joint bank accounts. One pot from which we can both spend as we need to. I would hate to be given an allowance. Don't want pocket money from my DH.

50% of income into JA, and rest into the ind. accounts.....

Seem to work for us. If you stop working, then maybe 70% of his in to JA and 10/15% into yours....

Depends on your outgoings really....

We have a joint account and personal account each.

Everything goes into the joint account and all the bills, household expenses and stuff come out of that. The leftover is split between our personal accounts and the savings account.

I'd hate to have an allowance.

(everything for the DC and any presents that are from us as a family or one of the DC come from the joint account too)

Separate all the way. His, hers and 'ours' for joint expenses. He was useless with money and, if we'd had one joint account only, he'd have rattled through it in no time. When we divorced, the fact that I had kept some money in my own name literally saved my life.

We each get paid into separate accounts, pay our own savings/ISAs from them, then transfer propertional set amounts into the joint account from which all bills and childcare etc then comes.

TBH, it has got to the point where it is effectively all joint now, but would be too complicated to close and swap accounts.

We decided to keep the accounts seperate due to both having our fingers badly burned by both exes!!! We both earn roughly the same but I get paid monthly and he gets paid bi-weekly so decided it would be best if the monthly bills came out of my account and anything else (i.e. fuel, food, luxuries etc) would be covered by his wages. I have to say it's worked for almost 3 years!!

We both pay into a joint account that covers the bills and then keep whatever's left in our own individual accounts to do what we want with

I wouldn't like having an allowance as such, but I've never had to sort out how that would actually work

We have a joint account for everything. I dont understand if you have children how you can have seperate?

I get housekeeping, pay it into my account where the majority of the Direct Debits come out of then he keeps what's left after he gives me housekeeping.

I keep my wages (pt work) and child benefit

We have individual accounts which our salaries get paid into. We transfer money into the joint account out of which all the bills, household expenses etc come.

I would hate the idea of getting an "allowance" from my husband. I saved up money before maternity leaves in order to keep paying some money into the joint account and also still having some in my own account.

Hi Kelpie. We have joint everything, we get in a muddle otherwise. But do whatever works for you I guess. Perhaps when the baby is born go for a joint family account. Otherwise does that mean when your allowance/maternity leave time ends, you will be responsible for buying the baby's food/clothes/toys etc?

Joint everything, always have. We don't have his and hers money, we have our money. But then we are both quite responsible with money, and earn quite a lot (so if someone does splurge it's not really an issue).

What is he suggesting this "allowance" cover?