Comments on: Should You Have Separate Accounts? http://www.mint.com/blog/the-motley-fool/should-you-have-separate-accounts/ The blog of the free, simple personal finance solution. Track all your spending automatically, find the best deals, save more money. And save the world. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:21:10 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Marie http://www.mint.com/blog/the-motley-fool/should-you-have-separate-accounts/comment-page-1/#comment-44315 Marie Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:08:37 +0000 http://blog.mint.com/blog/?p=434#comment-44315 My boyfriend and I do the joint/separate routine. We make very close to the same amount, so when we bought our house, we set up a joint account that all bills and the mortgage get paid out of. We did a rough estimate of expenses and came up with a figure that we expected would cover everything for a month, then divided by two and rounded up just a little. Each month we each put this amount into the joint account, then go about paying all the house bills out. The advantage is that we have a single lump sum that we need to put in for "everything" for the month, and then our individual expenses are our individual responsibilities (and the left-overs are our own play money). Roughly every so often, we also have a nice little bonus in the joint account to spend on "joint gifts" for the house, like a new TV. I'm going jobless for grad school in a few years, so we will see how well this theory continues on one income. My boyfriend and I do the joint/separate routine. We make very close to the same amount, so when we bought our house, we set up a joint account that all bills and the mortgage get paid out of. We did a rough estimate of expenses and came up with a figure that we expected would cover everything for a month, then divided by two and rounded up just a little. Each month we each put this amount into the joint account, then go about paying all the house bills out. The advantage is that we have a single lump sum that we need to put in for “everything” for the month, and then our individual expenses are our individual responsibilities (and the left-overs are our own play money). Roughly every so often, we also have a nice little bonus in the joint account to spend on “joint gifts” for the house, like a new TV.
I’m going jobless for grad school in a few years, so we will see how well this theory continues on one income. ]]> By: Terri http://www.mint.com/blog/the-motley-fool/should-you-have-separate-accounts/comment-page-1/#comment-44123 Terri Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:40:59 +0000 http://blog.mint.com/blog/?p=434#comment-44123 My bf and I have a somewhat different way of doing things. I had a prepaid debit card that I was using for my SSDI payments. He didn't have an account so I added him on to my account and got him a second card. His SSDI now goes on this account. I got another card for my self, and my SSDI goes on that account. We have certain expenses that we have every month and we sometimes have other payments (ie. my laptop was made in two payments). Every month I arrange our expenses so that we both have about the same amount to spend for ourselves. I have been keeping this in a spreadsheet and just add a worksheet for the new month. Sometimes, depending on what we are paying for, he buys the cat food. Sometimes, I buy the cat food. When we have agreed to buy something, or do something, we figure out how we can still each have an equitable amount each month. This next month, I will be buying a round-trip ticket for my Mom's 70th birthday. My bf will not be going. It will be around $300. What I will probably end up doing is putting $200-$250 into my account to pay for it. I also pay the space rent for our RV every month. I get about $300 per month more than he does, because his daughter is not yet 18. There are no hard and fast rules about who pays for what as long as we each have about the same amount of money to buy things, after our bills are paid. My bf and I have a somewhat different way of doing things. I had a prepaid debit card that I was using for my SSDI payments. He didn’t have an account so I added him on to my account and got him a second card. His SSDI now goes on this account. I got another card for my self, and my SSDI goes on that account.

We have certain expenses that we have every month and we sometimes have other payments (ie. my laptop was made in two payments). Every month I arrange our expenses so that we both have about the same amount to spend for ourselves. I have been keeping this in a spreadsheet and just add a worksheet for the new month. Sometimes, depending on what we are paying for, he buys the cat food. Sometimes, I buy the cat food. When we have agreed to buy something, or do something, we figure out how we can still each have an equitable amount each month. This next month, I will be buying a round-trip ticket for my Mom’s 70th birthday. My bf will not be going. It will be around $300. What I will probably end up doing is putting $200-$250 into my account to pay for it. I also pay the space rent for our RV every month. I get about $300 per month more than he does, because his daughter is not yet 18.

There are no hard and fast rules about who pays for what as long as we each have about the same amount of money to buy things, after our bills are paid.

]]> By: Josh http://www.mint.com/blog/the-motley-fool/should-you-have-separate-accounts/comment-page-1/#comment-38354 Josh Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:50:35 +0000 http://blog.mint.com/blog/?p=434#comment-38354 My wife and I use joint and separate accounts. We created our budgeted expenses here on Mint and updated it a couple times till we got it right. Now that we're on track, we deposit enough to cover our expenses in the joint account and some in each of our personal accounts (the same exact amount). This works well because then we can each manage our own 'spending cash' without constantly having to check with each other. My wife and I use joint and separate accounts. We created our budgeted expenses here on Mint and updated it a couple times till we got it right. Now that we’re on track, we deposit enough to cover our expenses in the joint account and some in each of our personal accounts (the same exact amount). This works well because then we can each manage our own ’spending cash’ without constantly having to check with each other. ]]> By: Eric http://www.mint.com/blog/the-motley-fool/should-you-have-separate-accounts/comment-page-1/#comment-34951 Eric Sat, 15 Aug 2009 02:22:09 +0000 http://blog.mint.com/blog/?p=434#comment-34951 Or you could do a budget together at the beginning of the month and know exactly what you have to spend where. Mint's budget is not great but on the first of the month I update the list I have on the budget from my "master" budget spreadsheet. Then you know how much you spent when and where at a quick glance. We Use the previous months income as the next months budget... i.e. Julys income is used for Augusts expense. That way you know exactly how much you can spend in the month. I've never spent less time on money matters than I do now.... 1/2 hour on the budget, 1/2 hour updating Mint's Budget on the first of the month and Mabye another 1/2 hour total paying bills and updating Mint and my Master Budget sheet. Or you could do a budget together at the beginning of the month and know exactly what you have to spend where. Mint’s budget is not great but on the first of the month I update the list I have on the budget from my “master” budget spreadsheet. Then you know how much you spent when and where at a quick glance.
We Use the previous months income as the next months budget… i.e. Julys income is used for Augusts expense. That way you know exactly how much you can spend in the month. I’ve never spent less time on money matters than I do now…. 1/2 hour on the budget, 1/2 hour updating Mint’s Budget on the first of the month and Mabye another 1/2 hour total paying bills and updating Mint and my Master Budget sheet. ]]> By: Ila http://www.mint.com/blog/the-motley-fool/should-you-have-separate-accounts/comment-page-1/#comment-34327 Ila Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:16:07 +0000 http://blog.mint.com/blog/?p=434#comment-34327 Here's a tip for those who choose to do Joint Accounts. We were having trouble keeping track, because in essence you would have to balance both "checkbooks" every day after all your debit/checks for the day. We started using Xpenser.com, and it's been fabulous. We simply text, IM or call Dialtodo and submit our expenses and deposits on the spot (while the receipt is still in hand after we get in the car). It has been fantastic! The only trick is being TRULY diligent in always putting the expense in, but other than that, it's pretty effortless. Good luck! Here’s a tip for those who choose to do Joint Accounts. We were having trouble keeping track, because in essence you would have to balance both “checkbooks” every day after all your debit/checks for the day. We started using Xpenser.com, and it’s been fabulous. We simply text, IM or call Dialtodo and submit our expenses and deposits on the spot (while the receipt is still in hand after we get in the car). It has been fantastic! The only trick is being TRULY diligent in always putting the expense in, but other than that, it’s pretty effortless. Good luck! ]]>