The reason I asked this question is because, I was having a conversation about this with colleagues and one of the guys said, "If you're married and splitting bills you have a roommate not a husband or wife."
Some felt it should go by who had the higher income. Others felt 50/50 was alright.
I personally wouldn't mind going 50/50 on bills with my future husband.
Doesn't necessarily need to be 50/50, and bank accounts don't need to be joined. We have separate accounts because he's an impulse spender and I'm an avid saver, and I run a business and so have to pay taxes straight out of my bank account. That means if we shared an account, the money he thought was available to spend might be going to taxes, etc. We function best when we have separate accounts. I budget, and we put money toward things together. We pay for cars and any personal debt separately. I make a bit less than him, so I pay a bit less, allocated toward what I use. Since I run a business out of my home, I pay for internet. Since I'm always cold and run the thermostat at 77, I pay for heat. Since he has the expensive iPhone, he pays for phone. That sort of thing. We come up with savings goals together and he tells me how much he wants to put toward it monthly (percent or amount) and then I transfer that for him. I might be saving for other things; he prefers to pay for vacations while I pay for "boring" things like furniture. So he might be socking his $500 extra a month toward a vacation, and I'm putting $500 a month toward furniture. But if I decide I want to go on a vacation, we definitely switch up and he'll start funding furniture so I can save for vacation, etc. It's all about cooperation and regular communication. You're a team. Works like a charm!
I should clarify -- if I decide I want to go on a DIFFERENT vacation or want to start saving for a bigger vacation in the future. Not that we vacation separately. :)
A few of the guys at my work are married. I asked them this question.
One has only one account in his marriage. All the money from both paychecks go in there and all the money for the bills comes out.
One has three accounts. Each spouse has a checking account and then they have an account they pay bills from. Their bills are split between them in accordance to which spouse makes more. They each pay the same number of bills, but because his wife's income is higher, the bills she pays are the more expensive ones. He said the percentage of their incomes spent on bills is the same, but the numerical value is different.
Nice! Thanks so much for your opinion & thanks to the guys at your job as well! I agree with in whatever way works for you. But also every couple has their own way of living and that's perfectly fine.
That is by choice. Not whether or not if it's a yes or no. Whoever can be responsible for the bills should just do it if it's mutually agreed upon. But what matters is that both couples have to contribute to something when they want something. Bills are important. But not every married couple can do 50/50. It's however way they want to do it and is beneficial for the couple. But when there is overspending and financial problems, they issue stems with whether or not the couple knows what they are doing financially.
I don't think bills should be split. I think the could should both invest and help each other. Example just pay the car and I will pay the house. I will buy groceries and you can buy other home supplies. I decorate the sitting room and you can decorate the room. Or while one is paying bill the other is saving for the vacation...
Mostly yes, but it depends. If one person wants an air conditioner instead of a water cooler and the electric bill is $500 per month, then they should pay $450 of that themselves. Same goes for phone bills. If one doesn't care much for phones and has a $10 per month flip phone, they shouldn't be splitting the bill with the other person that has a $90 per month smart phone bill. Also, each person should pay for their own car payment and insurance. I wouldn't want to pay for someone's $45,000 SUV when I saved up enough cash to buy my car outright and don't have payments.
As far as the money, I figure once the bills are payed, each person gets to keep the rest of their income as spending money for whatever they want, but things that would require monthly payments should be discussed by both partners first.
It used to be they just deposited and used the same account. But really its about communication. I mean as long as you're together, its the same money, but really my general rule in theory is, split it in a way that no checks will bounce.
But ps, if you split every bill 50 50, thats just a lot of unnecessary work. Im thinking like, cable comes out of my paycheck and hiring housework comes out of yours (or something, i wanted to avoid saying groceries in case someone found that offensive, but im not married so i can't think of anything else)
I don't specifically mean 50/50 literally like if cable is $100. They each pay $50. I meant like ok you pay cable, gas & I pay for hot water and Internet. Mortgage could be split 50/50. But yeah. I'm just trying to get a gist of things lol.
There is no right or wrong answer. It depends on the couple.
My wife and I have all our mutual bills - groceries, mortgage, insurance etc - direct debited off a credit card. At the end of every month, we both pay 50% of what is remaining on the credit card.
We pay our own car expenses, clothing etc.
We have an account that we both put a set amount of money into every week, that is used for things like holidays together, purchases for the house etc.
The rest of our money is to do with as we please. This is something we have developed over years, and it works perfectly. Our expenses are less than 50% of our income (we both earn almost the same too).
If both are working, they should both contribute to a joint account to cover joint things like household expenses and vacations and entertainment and savings. The person earning more should contribute more. Both partners should also have separate accounts that they can spend freely. Maybe each gets half of whatever is left.
A marriage shouldn't be about who pays the bills. You commingle your money and the bills are paid out of that, regardless of who makes what. If you have to keep your money separate you should sit down and have a conversation about how you do things. There is no right percentage in a marriage. You are both in it together and how you pay things should not be an issue. A marriage is two people joining together in life, not keeping things separate. If you have to worry about who is paying what, you shouldn't get married.
The guy who said that strikes me as the type who expects her to stay home, cook, clean and do laundry. For me, it's a double income society anymore. If you want nice things and don't want debt up to your eyeballs, then both partners need to work. It isn't fair if I have to go to work every day and she doesn't, then I come home to pay for everything while she gets to claim ownership to half of it without paying for anything. I think any partner who sits back and allows the "breadwinner" to pay for everything is just being lazy, shallow and financially abusive because they are being a total financial flake. It doesn't have to be perfectly 50/50, but 95/5 won't work for me either. You want a life with me, you need to work for it and pay for it too! Fair is fair.
I don't see 50 50 rule My parents do share money, but My father is the main provider. If he has money, he always pays. He even pays for his brothers, and their children. That's how family should be in my opinion. My mom isn't required to pay if my father has money. She does so out of kindness.
I think the easiest way and my recommendation to married people is to have one main joint account that they both know about, contribute to and "work" with. They both should go over the bank statement and see what they all purchased and balance their checkbook. See if the bank made a mistake which does happen folks! I used to get this a few times"Well my husband always balanced the checkbook" when I was a teller. That way you both understand how things work and if the unthinkable does happen you are prepared. I also believe having separate side accounts ts is good as well. That way you can purchase gifts, things that you've been saving up for to buy for yourself, or a " play" fund. But I don't believe in any secrets.
I put no because it really depends on the income and the relationship. If both parties are making similar pay I don't know why the hell it wouldn't be 50/50. For couples that have a large income disparity it can vary. Some people are only comfortable with 50/50, which is fine, but means you are limited to the budget of the lower income partner. Otherwise you're asking someone to live way beyond their means which isn't fair or kind to somebody you're supposedly care about. I think it's more common for couples with a large income disparity to split bills by percentage. That way the couple is living on total combined income and each person pays proportional to the total income. Both people are contributing an amount that is reasonable for their income.
i voted no because I think it depends on the couple. for a couple with joint accounts, house, kids and maybe different work schedules and different home chores yes.
a couple that has no shared responsibilities should be each one pays their own part.
but above all they should talk and come to their own agreement instead of using a fit for everyone bill.
I think a married couple should be sharing expenses, they should have a joint bank account. So technically yeah, they'd be sharing the bills, just like they're sharing everything else. I believe that when you get married, you become once, therefore, you share your money.
You have to take into account whether both partners have jobs or not. If one does, and one doesn't then it's a given that all the responsibilities of bills would be on the one partner's shoulders. Now if they both are working, then of course it should be split. You're both living in the house, using water, electricity, eating the food, using the internet. Therefore you should both be contributing, unless otherwise discussed.
THe one guy was right... if you are splitting everything equally you have a roommate not a wife.
A family is a single unit, everyone should contribute a roughly equal amount but it can't be measured in dollars. As a family you share a budget and all the resources and responsibilities as a unit. Functionally, this means the money goes into one central location and everything gets paid for from there.
No, because oftentimes, one person (typically the man) is getting paid more in the workforce because they have more time and energy to do so, because the other person (typically the woman) is doing more of the unpaid labor around the house. Since the person in the workforce is getting paid more for their labor, it's fair that they pay more of the bills.
Also, in cases where the woman is pregnant, it's fair that the man pay more of the bills, since pregnancy can make working more difficult.
We each keep separate personal accounts as well as a household one. We each contribute equally to the household account that one is for bills and household emergencies, as for our personal accounts it keeps the money stress off of each of us. We can spend our money how we want, including spending it on each other without concerns as to if we can pay the bills. This is working for us.
I had a long post written and then I accidentally touched the "previous" button... In short, because I am tired of writing this again, my answer is NEITHER.
Legally, when you marry someone, your finances become intertwined in the first place. In many states, like Texas for example, the husband becomes the primary owner of ANY and ALL property purchased by either party while married, regardless of which of them is actually paying for it. Their debt can also become your debt. In some states, money owed can be garnished from your spouse, except for child support.
There is no yes or no here. a married couple should be able to work out how best to cover their bills between them.
What might be right for one couple may be all wrong for another. Declaring that the division of bills should be xxx/xxx shows an acute ignorance of how relationships work.
depends on if you have kids or who works etc. if the wife takes care of the kids and is a stay at home mom while the dad works obviously he pays the bills but say you guys don't have kids and both work, then yes u should split the bills.
I voted no, based on my current situation, I guess you could say we're splitting the bills, however all our money goes into a joint account. We don't believe in a his and hers account system, we share everything in our relationship, money is no different.
I think they should give an equal percentage, not necessarily 50/50, because if the salaries are very different, one would end up giving up too much. they should open an account for bills only, and each of them could transfer lets say 30% of their salaries
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