Category:
April 17, 2005
Separate Checking Accounts
My good friend Erik writes about why he feels having separate checking accounts is a bad idea. I see his points; however, I have to disagree that having one sole joint checking account is the best approach.
Mike and I handle our finances in a way that combines the two points of view. We have 3 checking accounts - one for him, one for me, and one for us. All of our bills and eating out and grocery shopping, etc. go on the joint checking account. However, personal expenses like eating out separately, buying clothes, putting gas in the car, etc. go on our separate checking accounts. We feel this works pretty well. We each chip in an equal amount to the joint account (if one was making significantly more than the other, we might switch to a different percentage, but for now it's 50/50). Having separate personal accounts prevents fights over financial matters such as him making a large purchase of computer equipment or me making a large purchase of something else.
We both track our money (me using MS Money, him using Quicken). I track the joint account, but at the end of each much, I give him the amounts for each category and he manually types them into Quicken. This way we are both involved and aware of our finances, but we each feel the freedom of purchasing what we want without having to consult the other. We are aware that most marriages fail because of financial conflicts, so this is our way of sharing the bills, while maintaining our freedom and avoiding fights over money matters.
Having said that, circumstances may change in the future that would make us rethink our approach, but for where we are in our lives right now, this works very well.
Posted by Rebecca at April 17, 2005 03:22 PM
Comments
I agree with you 100%. My b/f and I do it the exact same way. It works.:)
Btw, thanks for the present.:)
Posted by: Sandi at May 12, 2005 10:37 AM
You're welcome, Sandi!
Posted by: Rebecca at May 15, 2005 05:20 PM
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