How do you manage/split your family finances?

[Wtfmummy]

After a couple of years being unemployed due to redundancy, my DH is working again - part time and in a job he absolutely loves

During this time I took on all the bills. It's been tight but we've managed. I'm now wondering what is fair in terms of his contribution and would appreciate thoughts on how you would manage the bills together and what you do in your own homes.

I earn 2800 a month and he now earns 800. So whilst I would like him to contribute I don't want to put all his money into pot as its a real boost to his morale to have his own money again. We have briefly discussed this but he is yet to receive his first full pay and we are still in the excited phase about him having a job again. He wants to contribute so no issues there.

Our bills are:

• mortgage 1100
• council tax 170
• Gas & elec 100
• Food 300
• Fuel 100
• car loan 160
• water 32
• various insurances (house, dog, car) 100
• my own personal loan 400 (only 6 more payments to go-thank God!)
• childcare - variable!
• other misc spends like weekend activities with kids, uniform, clothes etc take up the rest

So, what do you think is a fair split/contribution? How do you manage it in your house?

Ask him to put 600?
Out of your 2800, the outgoings look something like 2000 (minus your loan)
So 2/3rds each. Roughly.

If you earn x% of the house total income and he earns y%, you put respective percentages of the household expenditure into the pot.
This has worked for us for years. We each have our own money and co tribute a fair amount to the family finances.

We pay equal percentages based on our earnings bit we have taken an equal hit on our earnings from taking time off looking after the babies and are both left with enough to have some hobbies and save a.bit.
I think if OH was going to be left with say 100 to your 500 and its because they sham ed for several yrs we would work it put to have equal spends after bills instead.

Yeah that's a good point.

Thanks all - that helps a lot!

We used to put everything into one pot (joint account) then 'paid' ourselves the same amount into our own separate individual accounts to spend how we wanted.

OH & I put all of our money into the joint account, and a Standing Order for £250 comes out into each of our accounts every month.

The joint account pays pretty much every we need for the house, bills, petrol, food, loans etc.

Our £250 is for any "extras" we want. Usually makeup & clothes for me, and music stuff for OH. It allows us to spend some money on whatever we want.

We also put away £100 a month from the joint account, and we each get £600 in December to cover Christmas presents etc.

We put all in one pot and split down the middle - so take out monthly spending for each of us that is the same, leave rest for bills, savings etc

Split between me and the boyfriend.

He's on an astronomical salary and owns the house so he pays for that. Or rather, the family trust does. I pick up some of the bills and we split the food. He doesn't even know what the bills are and would just transfer whatever money I tell him to to my account. I do all the payments.

To be fair, he's happy to pay for it all but I wasn't raised to be a freeloader with my hand out, so I insist on paying my share.

When we go out he mostly pays but it's generally close to a 50-50 affair.

It's confusing at times but it works :p

Everything in joint account for us with a standing order into our own accounts for our own spending money.

Everything into one account. We've both earned, we both spend it, percentages don't come into it.
I earn less than dp right now, and I wouldn't take kindly to having say 50 to spend while he has twice or ten times that amount. Seems horribly unfair to me, even if you are contributing the same to scale.

We have a joint account and personal accounts
All income goes into the joint account then we both get agreed spending money depending on what is left over
The joint account covers
Mortgage
All bills including car expenditure
Anything to do with the kids
Personal is literally pocket money for frivolous spends consequently it isn't a huge amount of money each month but it is freeing to have it guilt free to buy coffee or cd's etc.

We put all income into the one account (my salary, his, Child Benefit), and then we have always each had a standing order for the same amount as our 'spending money'. At different times of our lives, I've earned more, he's earned more, I've only been on maternity pay, and he's only been on a student grant, but it's always been "our money" as we've always both contributed whatever we can at that phase of our lives. As equal partners, we therefore each have the same amount of "pocket money" (which has gone up and down over the years to match our finances). The main pot pays out all bills, savings, etc.

Before reading Mumsnet I hadn't realized that everyone didn't split 'spare' income 50:50. I can't see any circumstances why you wouldn't do this. Why would one person in a relationship feel they should have more money to spend than the other?

DW and I have a joint account, everything goes in and all bills are paid out. We're each allotted the same amount of personal spending money in our budget each month. It works perfectly. I too don't get the notion of counting up contributions to the funds in what is supposed to be a team. FWIW, I used to bring home the larger income, currently my wife does, and shortly I will again, and the issue has never been raised.