Spouses, SO's, partners...How do you choose who gets what?

[Anonymous]

I handle the finances in the family. DH and I have both had our share of credit/money issues in the past. His was more recent than mine, so as we've gone along, most things have been in my name or started in my name. He's just trailing me a bit credit score wise right now. Chase, Citi, and Amex are me and he's an AU. We each have a Discover, a Barclay, a Home Depot, and a Best Buy. It's a pain having the two log-ins for things, particularly when trying to do something on an iphone app (which I often prefer interface-wise) if I haven't memorized the log in info. 

As I start thinking about if/what to pick up going forward, I need to also think about who should be primary on what. The things I'm kicking around going forward are CSP and/or Prestige. If we went Prestige, we'd likely try to pick up Premier for the bonus and might use the 3x something that it has over the Prestige. And then there's the question of hotel and air cards. I don't think we'll pick up any air cards, and I keep going back and forth about which hotel cards if any. Of course I like pretty much all the hotel cards that Chase offers, there are all the Hilton varieties to consider, wouldn't mind Wyndham (Barclay) and then there's SPG to consider. 

When I think about my 'rounds' logging into websites etc. I think how much easier it would be to just try to be primary on everything. But I think some of the next things should be him as primary. The only one that I think has an issue of primary vs. secondary is the Prestige (golf and lounge access for primary). Are there those considerations for hotel cards? 

I know I'm all over the place and rambling, but I'd love to hear what kind of thought processes others use to make these decisions, as well as any specific comments on my sitiuation. 

[JSS3]

The primary should be whoever has the best portfolio in order to get the best limits/terms. Logins be damned. Lol

[barbaralee]

Frankly put, my SO has better credit than I, so if I want approval for something with a great credit line I apply in his name. We are both wannabe frugalites and are very good with money, but I handle all the finances. We are very good about saving, but in truth if he took over the finances we would probably save even more. He just can't be bothered with household budgets.

Since a lot of cards are in his name (most everything else is joint or I am the beneficiary) I add myself as an authorized user to cards that I think we will do a lot of business on. Or, I just go the hard way, call the customer service rep, have him verify and then give permission to talk to me. I also utilize email and Facebook a lot. But I very, very rarely have to call in and speak with a customer service rep. 

When it comes to logging in to different websites under different profiles, I just roll with it. On a regular basis we only log into 4 websites (his/her profile for our bank, his everyday card, my everyday card) so it's no biggie to me. Almost all of our monthly bills are in my name, and they are being paid on a card only in his name. We've had this set up for years, and it works well. 

That's basically how it is in our household. We're looking at buying a home in the next two years so SO wants to give our credit a bit of a break, so no more applying unless something super, super sweet comes along. 

[Anonymous]

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@JSS3 wrote:
The primary should be whoever has the best portfolio in order to get the best limits/terms. Logins be damned. Lol

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But even that...what does that mean to Chase? Am I better because I have three cards with them or is he since he'd be a 'new relationship'?

Same with Citi. I just got a CLI from $4800 to $15k on my TY Pref. If I applied and was denied, I'd try to recon and move some limit, but it's Citi so it would possibly be pointless. And same...he'd be a new relationship and I'd be a 'known'. 

[JSS3]

Chase- you'd be better because you already have an established relationship with them and they tend to give higher limits with subsequent approvals. The only time it wouldn't be better is if you're near the internal limit. Then it would be best he apply.

Citi- same as above

[Anonymous]

It just depends on what the purpose of the AU is. For example, the BCP has an annual fee, so DW is an AU there, so we don't have to pay it. We are AUs on each others SMs, due to the low limits. We also have a couple legacy ones from when DW had no credit history. Sometimes, it's just easier to go the AU route, sometimes you want the actual cards. We try to do the crossing AU method (we each have an IT, she's AU on mine, I'm AU on her's) because it makes it to keep track of spend. 

[longtimelurker]

As we both have good scores, I've moved away from making AUs on each others card, as it creates unnecessary "new account" stuff on both CRs.   So only if the card is frequently going to be used in person by both of us  individualy.    (And even then.... Since we frequently hit the quarterly cap on both cards, I use my wife's Cash Plus at the vet, since they don't seem to care that the name on the card and the signature don't match)

[ways2go]

My past experience is that both of your finances should be separate. Never have joint accounts.  You never know what is going to happen in a relationship.  The other person can ruin your credit fast.  It took me over twenty years to figure that one out.   You should be responsible for your own.  If you do it that way,  it can make a relationship a lot nicer.

[Anonymous]

We have our own personal accounts and joint account. I store all our extra money in a bank account in my name with him as the beneficiary God forbid something happens to me. I handle most of the finances. I don't know if necessarily agree with the have everything separate. My credit is better than hubby's but he has the higher income. We both wouldn't have gotten a house without each other. We are both frugal (except with food, all bets are off). I trust him 100%. Now that doesn't go for everyone I've ever been with. I dated someone for 7 years and I wouldn't trust him with a pair of scissors. If something were to happen between us (breakup or divorce whatever) then I'll just take my chances. I've been down that road before and all my ducks are in a row.