When two people unite, everything is 50/50 right? When a couple gets married I usually hear the saying, “what’s yours is mine”. So how does this work for money? I know many married couples from work and around the community where I live. With many different couples, there are many different ideas about sharing money in a marriage. Some couples are more willing to unite as one when it comes to their money. Other couples like for things to remain separate.
Some couples I know follow the 50/50 rule to a tee. They have one checking account and both persons spend from it and put their earnings into it and an added savings account. Both of the persons know and see what is coming in and what is going out. The couple shares the responsibility of taking care of paying bills.
Other couples that I know have a more one-sided controlled money situation. One person in the marriage is in charge of all of the finances. That person takes care of all deposits and all outgoing monies. The other person asks or gets money when needed. I have seen this happen with both the man and the women being the controller.
In other situations, the couples have independent monies. Each person has his/her own account (which usually has the other person’s name on it) from which he/she spends. Each person deposits his/her earnings into his/her account. Any minor purchases that the persons wish to make come from their independent accounts. The couple may share the financial burden when large purchases are to be made. The couple usually has assigned bills that each pays.
So how should the money be divided- or should it be divided at all? My husband and I do not write checks from the same account. I do not feel that I would ever be able to keep up with what was going out if we both used the same one. However, our money flows between the two of us freely.
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