GolfHos

Karen and I will be married 12 years in August.  Since day one, there has been only one "fund".  Everything we have goes in the pot.  Bills are paid, groceries, expenses, fun, etc.  I can't imagine doing it any other way.  But I know a lot of couples do.

We've had our share of money spats, but it always comes down to the same equation.  We only have so much coming in, and so much going out.  We both have freedom to spend, but usually keep the 100 dollar rule of thumb.

Basically I get an allowance every week, or two weeks.  We don't have/make enough to have our own little stashes outside the general fund, so we don't even try.

Works for us.

Everything shared.... I don't think it makes a difference at the end of the day as my wife Tania would be legally entitled to half of everything anyway... :o

Same here, one pile of money. I've never understood the mine/hers but different strokes I guess. Plus we're both very alike fiscally which is cool.

There is one exception. We both have our mad money stashes from birthdays, Christmas etc. I also have my change jar which now has about $160 in it.  ;D   That money is mine/hers with full independent discretion on how to spend it.

My wife and I gave this a lot of thought when we were getting married.  Ultimately, we decided on one savings account, one checking account, and one checkbook open at any moment in time.  I need a check, I take one from the book (if I can find it).  All monies are commingled.  No allowances to either party -- it's expected that we're responsible.

I have a PayPal account that she knows about.  It's self-funds from sold items.  Above that, it's tied to a credit card, the statement for which she sees every month.  If she asks the balance, I tell her.

I know a woman whose setup was: a checking account for her, and one for her husband.  Each had pay direct-deposited.  They'd divided up household expenses 50-50.  After that, whatever each did with excess funds was none of the other's business.  It always struck me as though they'd set it up expecting to divorce.  Just odd that there was no attention paid to joint planning (or individual, for that matter) for retirement, old age, sudden medical bills ...

Complete opposite here.

We each have financial responsibilities (I have mtg, she has groceries, car insurance) I'm not listing everything but you get the idea.

We go as far as to even have separate accounts (we are both on each others of course just in case).

Worked well for 21 years now.  :o  We have never had a squabble about money...yet.

Besides it's nice when we go out to dinner, I get a reach, that's all we want is a reach, it's nice to get a reach once in awhile.

Gee I'm swimming against the stream...how shocking.  :-\

Shared- one fund, though she's much better with money than I, so really all money is her money and I get an "allowance" of sorts. I do have a semi-private stash in Paypal, mostly from Ebay, FGI, etc. transactions, but she knows about it. As long as she doesn't see enormous amounts of unexplained money going into Paypal or anything else, she doesn't get too worried about it. ($20-$50 here and there doesn't really raise an eyebrow, but when I spend I tell her about it, unless it slips my mind, I'm not nearly clever enough to sneak around with money.)

ONe fund, always has been. Currently I'm the only one working for pay (she stays at home and works much harder than I do).

one fund. nothing left to spend. lol

It's been one fund for 26+ years.  After we got our finances cleaned up about twenty years ago, money hasn't been an issue.  It wasn't much of one before that.

We have one checking acount tied to our savings account and we share credit cards.  I do have a paypal account with a meager balance.  Everything is shared and we have had no problems.  We shop together for things we need and sometimes just want. 

 [sm_fingersx] The Mrs had an interview yesterday for a new job that would be more than double her current salary.  I would love for her to make more than me because we'd be doing great.  Although she might want to then separate our accounts.   ;D

We have two accounts.
Russell's wage goes into our account, which I run, and basically we live off that account.
My wage goes into my account.  I pay the mortgage, and I have a morbid fear of missing a payment. I just keep this separate so I know the home loan will always be paid on time etc. ;)

They have this new-fangled thing called "automatic electronic payment", wherein the mortgage company auto-debits your designated account on a specific day of each month.  They use "computers", which I'm told are mostly reliable but will one day "get smart" and revolt against us.  Anyway, I'd check into the payment thing, and not worry too much about the rise of the machines part.

http://www.golfhos.com/forum/index.php/topic,3821.msg48437.html#msg48437

(http://abclocal.go.com/graphics/v3/kabc/kabc_200.ricromero.jpg)

Clive or should I say Mr Smart-Wiggly-Jiggly-LeatherCLad-Ass, I do have the electronic payment, from my account to my homeloan.!!!! :P :P........... ;D
I just keep it separate so I know exactly how much money it there!!!! 8)
 

That's a mouthful.  Or so Clive would have you believe.