How to Split finances when he earns 20k more?

[sjk2024]

What are the pros and cons for both?

Option 1) You split everything according to salary eg if he earns 60% of the household income, then he pays 60% for everything, I pay 40%

Option 2) Partner wants to put everything we earn into one pot, and keep back 500 each in our account to ourselves

Whose name would the accounts with the joint savings be in? Yours, partner's or both?

Option 2 seems fairest.

Depends if marriage is on the cards? We went for option 2 from the time he proposed and wouldn’t have it any other way. We are completely a team and would never see each other financially worse off than the other.

Option 2.Both parties have the same to spend how they please.

Yes - just bought a house together. Do you mean I would be worse off or him for option 1? (because he earns more I don't know if technically he would be worse off than me)

We do option 2. I'm the higher earner by £12k. Everything goes into a join account which is used for bills, food, petrol etc, and then we each have our own account which has the same amount transferred into it to do whatever we want with. We're a team and so it only seems right that it works this way.

OK thanks - whats your reservations with paying a % more if you pay more? Technically you might even still be left with the same

I'm option 2, I currently earn £35k more than my DH. At one point he earnt £28k more than me, but we have always done option 2 since we bought a house together

Everyone on here will tell you option 2, but everyone I know IRL does option 1.

That's fascinating!

I don't think I know anyone who does either A or B.

DH and I just have one joint account that our salaries both get paid in to. Big disparity in income.

We previously did option 1, but then moved house and just decided it was easier to do option 2.

The lower earner would be worse off in option one as they’d have lower personal spends.

We have one account, both salaries in, bills out, and we both spend from that.
Don't keep tally on who's spent what tbh.
Works for us.

Thanks thats what I sort of think. But say he earns 4k and I earn 3k and we leave ourselves 500 each, technically he is putting in more (him 3,500 and me 2,500), right?

Eh? That basically is option 2, just some people choose to transfer back equal personal spends.

Option b)

Although, we just have both wages paid into the one account and both spend from it.

Option 1 until you're married, then option 2. That's what DH and I did.

I wouldn't give someone I'm not married to access to my earnings in any way. Even if it meant that I had less 'fun money' than they did.

We have a £30k gap between our salaries. Both salaries go into a joint account.
We worked out how much spends we would each need e.g. DP often buys lunch whereas I make mine at home, so they have that covered in their spends, and this amount goes into our individual accounts. Handy for buying each other's birthday etc without ruining the surprise!
Everything else (bills, food, savings, house & car running etc) comes out of the joint account.

We did option 2 which covered all bills plus a standing order into a savings account for holidays etc plus a separate slush fund for yearly things like house/car insurance, car service and mot type stuff. The personal spends in our own accounts meant we could spend without checking with the other person if that spending impacted them.

So you are saying me (the lower earner) is better off with option 2?

Do you want kids? Because honestly all of this becomes way more of an issue when you have kids, or more to the point when you are on maternity leave in particular

Yes. If you pay an equal % then you will
always have less as you will have the same % (say 40%) but of your lower salary whereas the other person has the same % of a higher salary = more money.

If you work it so you have equal spending money then assuming all the bills are still covered to the same extent, you will be better off and the higher earner will be worse off.

We do Option 2 because it is fairest, and I am the higher earner by £15k.

If it's 20k difference... All essentials come from the 20k, then the rest you have as money for savings and luxuries?

I don't know. DH and I just pooled everything once we lived together, but I already had a DC, so by the time we moved in together it was a what's yours is mine kind of thing anyway.

We are about to venture into joint finances and we are going with 2. I earn £12k more at the moment, but I go on mat leave in November and to be honest I am used to being completely financially independent so the idea of having to ask for money from my partner galls me. I figured, and he seems to agree, that this would be the best way forward.

We are both due a decent pay rise in a couple of months, but mine will be a bit more and widen the gap further.

We have written a list of everything the joint account covers and then anything expected to come out of the joint account, but the general rule is - if it benefits both of us it comes out the joint account. So things like car, petrol, food, going out if we're together come out joint account. Gym, mobile phone ect personal spends - mainly because I'm happy with my really old phone on giff gaff that does everything I need and he wants an all singing, all dancing phone.

We have also agreed that any extras we earn are ours alone, he is in a band and I do impromptu tutoring on the side. Generally tbf the money benefits both of us, but strictly speaking, that's our own money to play with.