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Great thread!
I did, he did, I did, he does...... (with help)
We juggle 3 chkg accts for the regular stuff and 3 savings accts for the majors like taxes and large purchases which are few and far between. We're both old codgers and retired, so we don't really need anything.
The second "I did" is because one month (on military pay no less) he paid everything in advance and left me with NO grocery money and we had to borrow from my best friend to feed us. Thank heavens for all those "ready-to-use" credit cards in the 60's or we wouldn't have gas to get to work!
The second "he does" came about by an illness that almost had me pushing up daisies. Realizing he'd be in a world-of-hurts if anything happened to me, I made a database with all of our regular monthly pmts listed, print it out for him to fill in the blanks and write checks. Every now and then he manages to mess it up tho, so I keep tabs on him. I do pay a few things on line and have them debited from my chkg acct.
He refuses to learn how to use a computer, and wishes there were fewer buttons on the TV remote, but after 46 years I've decided to keep him in spite of his flaws.
BTW, what is this thing you refer to as "balancing a checkbook"?
D-R
I, too, am a single female homeowner. So I, and not my two puppies, pay the bills, budget, etc. I don't balance any of my checkbooks, I have 3, but I do have a budget.
While I'm not married, I went through a long hard process to not be nearly $30K in debt, to own a house, and have some, albeit small, savings. I can't imagine ever giving up managing my financials. I can imagine doing it together, but not giving it up.
Me, 'cause I'm THE MAN!
Actually, since I do most of 'em online, it's me rather than DW who does 'em.
I take care of all the finances - I'm the wife and I work in financial services including accounting and tax work.
We got married in our late 30s and had our own accounts already, which we did not close and/or merge. Instead, we opened a joint checking and a joint savings account at the same institution as our separate accounts (one bank for all is crucial for this system to work) and that's where we save together and pay the household bills. We each also have our own bills (car loan, credit cards, cell phones, etc.) that we keep completely separate from each other.
I created a household budget requiring a certain amount of $ (half from each of us) every month so we have automatic transfers set up from our personal checking accounts (for the day our paychecks are direct deposited) that move funds from the separate accounts to the joint checking account. I then pay the household bills from the joint account, tell my husband what he needs to pay on his personal bills each week when I can see what's left of his paycheck after the joint account gets its money, and I pay my own bills from my separate account.
Since I earn more, I'm apt to buy a fair amount of the groceries and outings from my separate account so we can build up our joint savings for emergencies, vacations, etc. The only thing in both our names is our house; the house is a multi-family and all the rental income and operating expenses flow solely through the joint account for that reason.
I use Quicken (separate files for the household versus me as an individual, but not my husband) as well as 3 spreadsheets (DH, myself, and us jointly) for cash flows and budgeting. The categories in Quicken help me assess where all our money goes. It also gives us our current net worth at any given time and allows me to set up reminders for all the bills so we're prepared for certain infrequent expenses that may not be part of the regular month-to-month budgeting - it's a robust system when used in tandem with the spreadsheets and there are no surprises this way.
Also, if something happens and he needs some extra money, I can transfer from my account to the joint account and then he can transfer to his account from the joint account. (Hence it being important that they're all at the same bank.) We track the funds by having a loan account for each of us within the Quicken file for the joint assets and that way we can see who owes the joint account money and who has a surplus in the joint account. We evenly write off funds owed to both of us, and work to keep the joint account whole although it's handy as a cushion or a means to share money when necessary. If we're not each able to live off what we make after the joint expenses then there's a problem so this also helps keep that in check.
My husband and I go over the household finances together a few times a year so he knows where everything stands and so that we can assess our spending and ability to save more on an ongoing basis.
Frankly, I'm better at keeping track of it all and since he tends to forget to pay things, this is better for both of us and, ultimately, our credit scores (which, even separately, affect both of us). We also both subscribe to ScoreWatch (R) on this site and have seen the fruits of all this labor by refinancing to a lower rate mortgage and saving hundreds of dollars each month.
I know some folks would rather put all their money into the same pot, but this is preferable for us - we're separate individuals who are there for each other but we each have control of anything we earn beyond what needs to go to the household living expenses (mortgage, utilities, etc.) and enjoy that autonomy. I just calculate what my husband already owes and help him with the timing but what he spends the rest of his paycheck on (or if he saves it) is up to him and the same goes for me.