Do you share a bank account?

[beebuzzer]

How many of you married couples share a bank account? How do you feel about this?

we have a shared one and also our own accounts each, but it's all classed as our money.

we have two accounts - one in his name and one in mine. Techincally they are not shared accounts but we do use them both as joint accounts.

By which I mean that I control them both and let him have the occasional fiver

DH and I do. We're both happy to arrange our finances that way.

'By which I mean that I control them both and let him have the occasional fiver' :)

Not married but we have a joint account and I have my own as well.

Have always shared a bank account. We have individual ISAs and there is one account in my name as werent out a house and we like to keep all that seperate. All the money is our money and we're very happy with that. We're a family so we share things.

Well I have recently pondered over it although its not really a problem as such. we both have our seperate accounts and OH puts money in mine for me each month to pay for all the shopping,food etc. He has never spoken to me about sharing one and I have never asked because I have not been working for the most part of our marriage as I have been a SAHM and I don't know how much he spends, but sometimes I wonder why he prefers putting it in my own account rather than sharing one.

We have a joint account which we both pay a proportion of our wages into to cover bills. We each have our own accounts which we end up with roughly the same amount of 'left over' money in. I like it that way as we can buy each other presents, etc, without the other knowing how much they cost, and I also like knowing what I have left is mine to blow on shoes and make-up!

Beebuzzer I wouldn't worry about it - unless you have other reasons to worry about what he's spending his money on!

I suppose the crux is not being secretive about money, rather just having a bit of independence to spend your money how you want, while being fair at the same time. DH and I are obviously 'a family' and we share most things, but I like the feeling of having my own finances, and so does DH. But we know how much each other earn, and probably everything we spend our own money on if I sat down and thought about it. DH earns alot more than me as I work PT, so he pays alot more in, so we are both left with roughly the same amount of spendies.

Maybe you'd feel happier if your account was really just your account and not the household account too?

Maybe you'd feel happier if your account was really just your account and not the household account too?
Possibly, as I tend to get to the end of the month and start struggling and I rarely buy anything for myself tbh just for little one.
Maybe I just wish I was working again! :(

no

the bills are pid predominantly from my account which means i have no disposable income as such.

we worked out the money left over after bills, halved it and i get a transfer into my account when he gets paid.

i am forever the pessimist, i have been married for 21 years, and i know dh inside out. whilst 90% of the time he is attentive, caring, loving and generally great. 10% of the time he is a total cockmuncher, and maybe one of these days he will do something that means i will leave. although this is highly unlikley, i still retain my own account, in my maiden name, within that account i have a savings account, and i also put a little away.

this is going towards a holiday for me and a friend next year, but i like to have a little something put by, incase i take the kids and just fuck off. again highly unlikley - but you never know.

however beebuzzer, i know exactly what dh earns and what he spends money on - as he does me. which is why we can work out how uch half of the oney left over after bills is

Ok Hellmouth, I heard just last night that more women were doing that now as an emergency fund I think thats a good idea. We avent been married that long though - just about 2 years. OH doesnt really go out that much anyway and spends most of his time at work so I don't worry wat he is spending but I wondered if maybe e didn't trust me enough or something. I think it is a sign of trust also isnt it?

Sorry `h' is not working properly!

I have:
a instant savings account where a few hundred quid gets transfered into every month. This is used for birthdays, treats, holidays etc.

a joint account where the rest of my salary goes.

DH has a Buisness account and with the joint account he puts a large chunk of money into the account every week.

We don't tend to use the joint account for daily withdrawals. It is mainly used for the d/d and s/o although if I am caught short for cash I'll just buy whatever I want on the debit or credit card.

I tend to ask DH for cash as and when I want it.

We do. I feel great about it, it's the simplest and easiest solution. All money is our money and we don't need to juggle accounts.

I know that it's not the right solution for everyone, and that it wouldn't work so well if we had different attitudes to money. But we have very similar financial outlooks and goals and so it works very well.

yes i suppose it depends on how you look at it.

but i would advise to keep your own account and squirrel some away. being at home, does not mean you have to sacrifice your independance. i think you should guard it savagely and make the necessary arrangements to never be tied to your dh.

life and circumstances change its naive to depend on one person alone for your needs.

work out your income after bills, make sure you get half of it.

Well he pays the bills for electric and gas from his account ad he as transport expenses for work. I do sometimes resent having to depend so much and would love to get back to work but it would be difficult at the moment.

I am the wage earner at the moment but we have one joint account where all the bills get paid from and then we have our own account each into which we have an amount paid into it each month so we can spend that on what we want. Works great.

We have a joint account. I earn double what my dh does. But I/we consider all our money, well, all our money.

I find it very odd when friends of ours do the whole 'you owe me this', 'I paid for that'.

One friend found her dh had a secret stash of £10k in 'his' account, when she had been stressed out of her mind trying to meet the supermarket bills out of 'hers'!!

One friend found her dh had a secret stash of £10k in 'his' account, when she had been stressed out of her mind trying to meet the supermarket bills out of 'hers'!! - Thats sad. I know mine has savings too because we met when he was older.

We have a joint account (and no other accounts). Both our salaries get paid into the joint account and all bills etc get paid out of that.

From a practical perspective, it does mean you have to be a little bit more careful about timing your withdrawals so that you don't leave the other person without money unexpectedly - we leave a fairly large "float" in the account to deal with this and we make sure we tell the other person if we're about to make a big payment out.

Other than that, luckily we have a similar approach to spending and saving, and we discuss all expenditure above a certain amount, so things run pretty smoothly.

Ideologically I certainly believe that once a couple is married their money is all shared, whoever earned it. If you don't agree with your spouse's spending then the solution is to talk to them about it, not to keep your money separate (as that just leads to problems when one of you is not earning/earning much less/runs up debts).

We have a joint account, into which both salaries go and out of which all bills are paid. There is no 'yours/mine', just 'ours'. We then have small standing orders out of the joint account into individual accounts, for our own 'pocket money'.
Most of the savings are in my name (so I have a big running-away fund ) because I bother to organise these things and DH doesn't.

Yes - think we did that when we bought our first house together, just before we were married (I think). Anyway been a long time. I know my BIL and his wife keep seprate money and they pay for certain things - just don't understand why.

Tend to buy most everyday stuff on credit cards, some are joint some in own names, we pay them off every month - I do this usually via internet bank and DW doesn't know how it's done - so maybe see how much each other spends but it's all our joint money and seems to be OK.