Splitting Bills/Separate Bank Accounts

Cherokeekid88

Cherokeekid88

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Location
High Point, NC
Ok, so the girl and I just moved into our apartment and we are trying to figure out a bill paying system. She has an account with Lorrilard which I would never want her to leave just so we can have one joint account. I work at a bank so I have to have an account there and get my check direct deposited. I get paid once a month where she gets paid every 2 weeks. I have some bills that are automatically drafted out of my account. Now put aside the factor that something could happen and we could not be together.... Would it be smarter to pay the majority of the bills as soon as I get paid my once a month paycheck and then live off of her pay check every 2 weeks? or should we just try and split everything? We are both new at this whole thing and want to do it smart. We are also going to try and consolidate some of our bills that we have.
 
2 accounts? You need one more 1 for household/living bills, (you each put in equal amounts to cover the bills) then you each have your own accounts to do with as you please. Don't ever let money become an issue...
 
IMO I think you should pay your bills, and she should pay hers. The living expenses such as rent, electric bill, water bill, cable, and groceries should be split in half. Buy the personal stuff separate like shampoo's razors and so on, pay for yours, she pays for hers. No need to wonder why she is using your money to buy all that woman stuff to make her beautiful, and no need for her to have to buy have the beer that you drink. Hope that part makes sense.

Now if yo get married, you can do it a little different, but still each of you need to have at least a portion of your pay to be "your" money to do with as you need or wish.
 
My wife and I never lived together before we got married, crazy I know, but we kept separate accounts. We both decided who would pay what, that was a simple way to do it for the last 12 years. We now have a single joint account and it's a PIA. We are always having to make sure the other doesn't over spend and cause issues with the bank but some might say it insures we communicate with each other, like that's an issue for us. lol
 
Jeff B said:
2 accounts? You need one more 1 for household/living bills, (you each put in equal amounts to cover the bills) then you each have your own accounts to do with as you please. Don't ever let money become an issue...
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upnover said:
IMO I think you should pay your bills, and she should pay hers. The living expenses such as rent, electric bill, water bill, cable, and groceries should be split in half. Buy the personal stuff separate like shampoo's razors and so on, pay for yours, she pays for hers. No need to wonder why she is using your money to buy all that woman stuff to make her beautiful, and no need for her to have to buy have the beer that you drink. Hope that part makes sense.
Now if yo get married, you can do it a little different, but still each of you need to have at least a portion of your pay to be "your" money to do with as you need or wish.
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This is what me and my chick do...we have our own accounts...nothing combined. We pay our own bills, then split everything else down the middle (even alternate paying when we go out on things like movies, dinner, etc.). Then we do have jugs and envelopes that we put change and cash in, in a fairly equal manner for things like big trips or future big purchases...ie, we're going to NY in Dec, so we're each throwing about $75/wk in there to get to our end goal.
 
Yeah I think I am gonna set it up where I just pay my stuff plus the things like directv that gets automatically drafted out of my account each month. She will end up paying less for bills because she has less, but can make up for it by buying groceries and stuff like that.
 
The wife and I have a joint account. I have a seperate account that I would put money from selling parts, Christmas, Birthdays and whatnot for the Bronco. Since we've been married there has always been an issue with our money. When I want something it's like going to the bank for a mortgage loan. If I had it to do over we would have seperate and decide who would pay for what or split it.
 
Whatever you agree to do, stick to it. Since you two have just started this whole endeavor, I'd wait on the joint account.

Maybe you split shared expenses down the middle or split them by percentage (based on how much you each make)... you pay some of the bills and she pays some and it works out to be 50/50 or 60/40 or whatever. Then you both take care of your own personal bills/expenses and figure joint 'entertainment' like dinner, movies, travel, etc. as another joint 'expense' that you both put money toward.
 
Since you work at the bank, set up a new joint account and as said above both deposit the same amount into it. And either can pay bills as needed. I'd keep things separate until your married etc.. (and don't let her get new bobbies, that seems to be a bad thing to do)

When I got married we started a new joint account and all our money is in there. We never have issues with either over spending as we don't operate that way. We generally discuss purchases over $100 and while the discussions are usually short we are both on the same page.. We don't hide anything from each other least of all money stuff...
 
We are actually in a pretty good position. Her only bills are car insurance, loan from school (very small loan at that), and phone bill. Both of our cars are paid for and my tires will be paid off in 4 months and my car insurance is getting ready to go down, So we should be in good shape..hopefully.....
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
Yeah I think I am gonna set it up where I just pay my stuff plus the things like directv that gets automatically drafted out of my account each month. She will end up paying less for bills because she has less, but can make up for it by buying groceries and stuff like that.
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LOL, DirecTV is not equal to groceries. You will be shocked at how much you spend on 'groceries' after a few months if you track your spending. When I say 'groceries', I mean everything for the house, not just food. It adds up fast! A tip on that too, is that if you buy in bulk at somewhere like Sams Club, you can save a bundle. If you eat out a lot, then mayber your results will be much less.
 
drkelly said:
LOL, DirecTV is not equal to groceries. You will be shocked at how much you spend on 'groceries' after a few months if you track your spending. When I say 'groceries', I mean everything for the house, not just food. It adds up fast! A tip on that too, is that if you buy in bulk at somewhere like Sams Club, you can save a bundle. If you eat out a lot, then mayber your results will be much less.
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no but she has alot less bills than I do. I think 3 total. We are gonna try to buy in bulk as much as we can and also start clipping coupons even though i hate it, but I love to save money. We are gonna start taking leftovers for lunch everyday and minimize eating out as much as we can as well.
 
As effective as clipping coupons (except maybe on triple day or something) is buying the store brand or what is cheaper by unit price. I find it to be a wash, no matter where I shop (FL vs HT or Kroger)... I also set a weekly grocery budget. When you're not totally strapped you can have some wiggle room, but it keeps you consistent and not blowing wads on everything that's "on sale."
 
We are coming up on ten years.

We have a single house account that we put into, that is really for emergencies and stuff.

House payment drafts out of her account, everything else comes out of mine. That's pretty equal. Then whatever we have left in our accounts we kind of each do what we want.

Works great so far. (and this is similar to how my folks did it for 53 years).
 
well when me and my wife moved in together bout a year and half ago, before we were married, i made alot more than she did, so i would pay most the bills and she woudl pay a small one. then we decided to get a joint checking and joint savings account about 9 months ago. best decision we made. this way, you cant argue with "i pay more than you, you have more money than me" yadadadada. and now, we both have more spending money. when one wants to buy something, we sit down and talk about it, decide if we can afford it, then decide if we should get it. shes a hair dresser, so she gets tips and thats what we use for gas,, out to eat etc.

but i woudl liek to have an account to save money for my beater
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
no but she has alot less bills than I do. I think 3 total. We are gonna try to buy in bulk as much as we can and also start clipping coupons even though i hate it, but I love to save money. We are gonna start taking leftovers for lunch everyday and minimize eating out as much as we can as well.
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i agree, pack your lunch! i started adding up how much it cost to eat fast food during a 5 day work week and its scary how much it adds up to. figure 5 bucks a day, x5 is 25, x52 weeks in a year= $1300 bones
 
kaiser715 said:
We are coming up on ten years.

We have a single house account that we put into, that is really for emergencies and stuff.

House payment drafts out of her account, everything else comes out of mine. That's pretty equal. Then whatever we have left in our accounts we kind of each do what we want.

Works great so far. (and this is similar to how my folks did it for 53 years).
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I do something similar and we have been doing it for 3 years now. Different things work for different people.
 
yoder519 said:
i agree, pack your lunch! i started adding up how much it cost to eat fast food during a 5 day work week and its scary how much it adds up to. figure 5 bucks a day, x5 is 25, x52 weeks in a year= $1300 bones
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That doesn't include the gas you burn driving to and from the restaurant either.
 
We've been married for a damned eternity.... and still have separate accounts for most everything. There's the one CC that all the 'regular' bills go on -- gas, groceries, house stuff, etc. Everything else gets added up and halved at the end of the month. If she cut a check for the mortgage and paid the bills, but I paid for new tires for the car, add it up and see who owes who.
 
We did the seperate account thing and it worked great. Of course I always took on my fair share considering I got paid more. It helps when bill time comes so you can both help pay the bills since it's a hassle to remember all of them. But now that she isn't working much, I pay everything. But we still have different accounts. We liked it better that way so that we know exactly how much play money we had. But it's got to be perportional for the seperate system to work. Can't be a half and half thing unless you get paid the same.
 
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