Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

Do you and your partner have a joint account?

87 replies

EverythingButNotNow · 25/04/2019 22:54

Hi guys

I’m thinking of setting up a joint account with DH but wanted to see how many people do this?

If you don’t mind me asking, do you both earn the same amount or does it vary a lot

Thank you

OP posts:
eurochick · 26/04/2019 07:08

We have a joint account for bills, food shopping, etc, which we pay into in proportion to our salaries. Everything else is left in our own accounts.

We earn a similar amount now but there used to be a fairly big difference.

autumnboys · 26/04/2019 07:09

Yes, we have had one ever since we bought our first house, about 20 years ago. At the time we earned roughly the same, but we have since had three children and I had nearly a decade out of the workplace, while DH built his career. He works full time, I work part time. I earn about a fifth of the household income. We use YNAB to manage our money, so in some respects it no longer matters which account the money is in, as long as it’s accessible.

SquigglePigs · 26/04/2019 07:10

We have three joint accounts - one for bills, one to spend out of and one savings account. No separate accounts except ISAs. We currently earn very similar amounts but that hasn't been the case all the way through. I was the higher earner to begin with, then DH's career took off, then I "caught up", plus some maternity and redundancy thrown in the mix. We nominally have a bit of personal money to spend each month that the other doesn't have any influence on but in reality most things come out of the joint account. It always felt simpler to us this way than faffing about making sure we were paying equally for things.

OhTheRoses · 26/04/2019 07:10

Nope. When we were first married, house was mine and dh gave me half the bills. When we moved I was pg and he took on all the bills.

SnaccidentsHappen · 26/04/2019 07:20

We do but don't really use it, only used for example if have a cheque given to us in both names, or are gifted money in some way. I work in finance and have seen some really horrible heart breaking situations with joint accounts. Probably a small percentage I know, but it really puts me off.

ketchupormayo · 26/04/2019 07:22

I earn 20K, DH earns around 100Kish- it all goes in one pot- yay for me!

WalkAwaySugarbear · 26/04/2019 07:23

Joint everything as we are married. Joint accounts, savings and credit card. He earns a bit more than me but it's all our money.

Ridingthegravytrain · 26/04/2019 07:24

We each have our own personal direct debits which come out of our accounts then everything else goes in the joint account. Anything left over at the end of the month goes into a joint savings account

tiffanygoldduck · 26/04/2019 07:28

We do. Get our separate monies paid into our own bank accounts and then have a standing order each month to pay into the joint account for bills.

Key for us is to budget for everything and if we spend under budget we leave the money in the account for unexpected expenses (eg last month we underspent on grocery shopping by £23, which went towards a new washing machine). Both get our separate monies- I get a little extra as I buy clothes for D.C. otherwise DH would dress them in Primark shite.

We have joint and personal saving accounts too.

Happilyacceptingcookies · 26/04/2019 07:31

We earn very similar and each put £1500 in to the joint account every month. We have our own current account and saving accounts which are not accessible by the other person!

PurpleWithRed · 26/04/2019 07:32

It's not so much about what you do but about your attitudes and whether you can trust each other. If you both believe all money is shared equally it doesn't matter who pays for what or how many bank accounts you have. If one of you feels they are more entitled to £ than the other, or one of you ends up going short while the other has plenty, then that is absolutely not OK.

In my first marriage money was just another way my xdh could control me - having a joint account wouldn't help. But to make the point crystal clear with DH we have a single joint account everything goes into and then equal personal spending money paid into personal accounts monthly. Our incomes have varied - mine used to be much higher but variable, his lower but steady. Now he's the breadwinner and I have a smaller but steady income. Either way it's fine.

Narya · 26/04/2019 07:34

We do. Get our separate monies paid into our own bank accounts and then have a standing order each month to pay into the joint account for bills

We do this too - our salaries are slightly different so the amount we each put into the joint account is scaled accordingly. It also contains a smallish joint savings buffer.

Aria2015 · 26/04/2019 07:35

We have a joint account. Based on full time earnings we’d both earn around the same but I work part time so earn less. It's never been an issue though. We thankfully have the exact same views on money so we never argue. We just have one rule - that we spent how we like unless the purchase is over a set amount that we’ve agreed (eg £100) then we both need to discuss and agree it. It's so much easier to have things jointly imo, however we do share the same views on money and how it should be spent so that does make it easier. I know some couples can clash if they have different views and so a joint account may not suit them.

Lardlizard · 26/04/2019 07:39

Onetitwonder how does divorce settlements differ down under then ?

Gran22 · 26/04/2019 07:41

We've been married a long time, and have always had a joint account. In the early days DH earned considerably more than me, then I caught up. His health was then an issue, so I was the only earner for several years. I also have a bigger pension in retirement. Neither of us would dream of buying anything expensive without agreeing on it. We have never been gamblers or extravagant spenders.

Marriage to us was about sharing whatever we have, and we've stuck to the same principle pretty much forever.

ValleyoftheHorses · 26/04/2019 07:43

Yes but we also have separate accounts. We each pay into the joint for mortgage, food, bills etc.

GrumpySausage · 26/04/2019 07:45

Yes we have a joint account and we have since we first moved together. We used to put in a set amount each month but it got too complicated on who was paying what so both wages into one account and all bills out.

Historically we've always earned similar amounts but I'm now part time whilst dc are little and dh earns more. There is never any issue in us spending from the joint account- it's 'our' money.

candlefloozy · 26/04/2019 07:48

Joint account. He earns double what I do but I deal with all of the childcare. All bills come out of that account too.

OneTitWonder · 26/04/2019 07:48

@Lardlizard well firstly we have no fault divorce and have had for many years, so that has an impact.

Also different rules and considerations about assets, which especially where children are involved, tends to mean that assets from the marriage are split based on custody arrangements, despite who earned what during the marriage.

Probably the biggest difference is that in Australia, legally live-in de facto relationships of more than two years in length are treated the same as marriage.

Quartz2208 · 26/04/2019 07:50

joint account here to for everything. When we opened it and got married we earnt pretty much the same (in fact I possible earnt marginally more)

Two kids later I earn 25% to his 75% but it is still the same - because I have gone part time to do all the childcare and child related stuff and he has been able to focus on his career so its still completely evn

CostanzaG · 26/04/2019 07:56

We both have our own accounts and a joint account for bills. He earns twice as much as me so pays twice as much in.

Ragwort · 26/04/2019 08:07

Yes, one account where both salaries go in & all expenses come out of... when we met we were earning similar salaries, but over the years I have been a SAHM for a long time & now working part time on a low ish income but everything shared. Never caused any problems but we are both quite risk averse and cautious about spending money, preferring to save, invest and pay off the mortgage etc.
I think problems can arise if one of you is a ‘spender’ and the other a ‘saver’ or if you object to one partner spending more on luxuries. Eg; my DH’s hobby is golf which is expensive, my hobbies don’t actually cost much money at all but because we are both happy and content with what we do in our ‘spare time’ it is not an issue for me at all that DH actually spends a lot more than I do ... if that makes sense.
And of course I acknowledge that we are very lucky to have savings, to have paid off the mortgage and spend money on golf club fees, most people don’t have the luxury of choice.

Lardlizard · 26/04/2019 09:06

Costa said what I don’t get about those lknda set ups is when you set up this agreement with your dh/dp
Things change so day when you set it up maybe he only earns twice what you did
But as things change he’s now earning three or four times but only paying in double what you do
Therefore he’s getting far more

Raisinbrain · 26/04/2019 09:23

When we moved in together we set up a joint account for bills and household expenditure and we paid into it proportionately to our income.
Nowadays pretty much everything is joint. All money goes into the same pot and we both have access.

Raisinbrain · 26/04/2019 09:24

Oh and I earn double what DH does now.