How does your joint account work?

[Perhapsiwill]

Before my DP and I had children we used to put an equal amount into a joint account and all bills came out of that. The rest was ours to spend. Simple.

After DCs I went back to work part time. I stopped putting into joint account but paid for all food and kids stuff, this was working when they were pre school.

Fast forward 10 years and arrangement has remained, I'm still part time but never have any money as kids clubs cost lots, clothes etc all seem to add up to too much for me to afford.

I am wondering how others split this? My DP is self employed so no set income which makes it hard to work anything out!

What do you have coming out of joint account? Food and kids stuff as well as all bills? Or some other arrangement?

Thanks

Dh pays mortgage and all houses bills. I put a sum each month into a joint account to cover all our joint expenses. It means dh gets whatever is left after his bills for his own use and I get whatever is left after I transfer my amount as my spending money. We both use the joint account for food shopping, kids activities, meals out as a family etc. Everything related to the family really.

We have one account. All money goes in and all money goes out. Simples!

One joint account. Everything goes into it. Everything comes out of it. No allocated monthly personal money. We have equal access to all funds.

We work out what is needed for joint bills, mortgage, food, eating out as a family, kids activities etc, then put in enough to the joint account to cover that then split the surplus equally between us for personal stuff etc and keep that back in our own accounts.

Sounds complicated but is simple. So say we earned 2,500 between us and needed 1,500 to cover bills etc and he earned 2,000 and me 1,000 we would keep back 250 each and put rest into joint account.

One joint current account and one joint savings account
That's it.

One joint account. Everything goes into it. Everything comes out of it. No allocated monthly personal money. We have equal access to all funds.

Same here.

One account for everything - everything is shared and we both have equal access/responsibility.

Yep, joint everything.

Joint in, any spends out, equal access, equal responsibility, tend to discuss any large purchases before making them, but finance is not an issue in our lives at all really - as we are similar in our attitudes to spending.

One account. I find the idea of his/her spends strange, though we don't often buy ourselves stuff.

Two joint accounts, my wages go into one and his go into the other, the bills come out of one or the other dependent on when in the month they are due (his money goes in on a different date to mine). Anything left over is there for whoever to use for whatever.

We have one joint account and both our wages go in and all bills come out of the same account

Joint account is for bills, food, all other household costs, the occasional meal out/ trip to the cinema for us (including the cost of the babysitter) and all child costs including childcare, clothes, toys, and any family days out. We know how much needs to go in there each month to cover all of the above, and split that between us (60:40 at the moment as I earn less than DH). Child benefit also goes into the joint account.

Our own accounts are just used for personal costs - mobile phone bill, clothes, make-up, treats, hairdresser, presents for our own families, individual nights out with friends. The idea is that we have equal spending money even if one of us earns more than the other. Your system does sound unfair to you if you never have any spare cash for yourself but your DP does.

" One joint account. Everything goes into it. Everything comes out of it. No allocated monthly personal money. We have equal access to all funds. "

This is how it works for us too, except child benefit which gets paid into my personal account.

Another one who doesn't understand 'his' and 'hers' money. One account, all goes in and out. Much easier!

Totally joint here
Everything goes in and everything goes out.

One joint account, so all money in one pot and we both use it for everything. At end of month, any money left over is split evenly and put into our own savings

I didn't realise so many people did it all from one pot! I'm not sure I'd like that as I would feel I had to justify purchases. I spend more than my DP would on clothes or shoes for example, not that I have been recently due to no money! How does that work?

We put the same amount into a joint account each month, (as we earn pretty much exactly the same salaries) -enough to cover all joint expenses, such as mortgage, insurance policies and bills. I get child benefit paid into a kids' account out which I pay for their clothes, school dinners when they have them, birthday and Christmas presents, birthday gifts for their friends, extra curricular activities, etc. We put an equal amount into a joint savings account every month too, and spend the money left in our personal accounts as we please (our own cars, mobiles, hobbies). We actually buy all food out of our own money as well, as albeit fairly frugal, we like different stuff and are happier shopping to our own tastes.

We have a joint account and we pay a percentage of our incomes in to ensure we cover all joint expenses, bills, food, drink, entertaining etc. We then have what's left in our individual accounts to spend as we please. A percentage means we don't worry about who is the bigger earner.

If we have large purchases Ie over a few hundred, we usually pay for it out our separate accounts, Just split it instead of hammering the joint account. We also buy stuff for thr house as we please, so for example I just bought 1k worth of garden furniture and I paid for it. Sometimes my husband buys stuff. We don't really think about it to be honest. It's both our home and we both take care of it.

For savings, we do this individually, but we both know how much the other has and make joint plans ie pay mortgage off etc.so although individual savings use it as a joint pot.

When our daughter was growing up, she is now 20,we simply ensured the percentage of our incomes we put in covered all her costs too, be it school, child care, clothes or fun stuff.

We saved all her child benefit since she was born, and added it it ourselves each month, and this has been used to support her through uni. Next year when she does her LPC if we need to support, we will contribute equally over and above.

Overall, neither of us screws the other over and we always make sure it's fair, without much discussion. Because it's not needed when neither of you wishes to fuck the other over.

Perhaps , that's exactly why we don't have one account for everything. DP spends hardly any money on himself, and although my purchases are all charity shops and eBay, I don't want to have to spend one minute thinking about justifying my private spends. DP on the other hand loves to save, so he has a fat personal savings account in addition to our joint one, whereas mine is a bit more modest

I spend more than my DP would on clothes or shoes for example, not that I have been recently due to no money! How does that work?

It doesn’t matter to us. I don’t ask for “permission” or justify purchases. Dh trusts me to be sensible, and I feel the same about him.

I'm getting statutory maternity pay. DH obviously earns much more. We each keep £300 and everything else goes in the joint acc. Complete fairness and no "how much was that new shirt?" Comments

Separate current accounts and a joint savings account.

DH and I both transfer differing amounts to the savings so we’re both left with the same in our current accounts

I spend more than DH. It doesn't bother him.