Curious question for all you married couples....

mummy2girls wrote: Since the day you married did you combine your bank accounts into one? Or did it take a while for that to happen? or are you still seperate accounts? I was wondering because my sister and her hubby have been married ofr almost 2 years and they still have seperate accounts. he refuses to combine the 2 because of her shopping she does. She thinks she should always get the best and never will compromise for cheaper prices. So they still split living expenses. My mom said from day one they combined. If you dont mind sharing how long did it take for you all?

maestra replied: We combined accounts when we got married, just a few weeks after. Dh was never good with a checkbook anyway, so he was happy to hand over his money. We discuss things before we buy them, and plan for savings together. I think it works pretty well, but I am the one who pays all the bills.

mama3x replied: I hate to say this but I do not remember...it may have been right after we married, when we received our certified marriage certificate...3 months?

We did have joint accounts for sure after we married, one is his with his name first and the other is mine with my name first. Personally I don't trust him $$$-wise because he doesn't balance his checkbook and overdraws too (tho' not as much as before).

MomToMany replied: We opened a joint account, then last year he opened a business account that he uses as his own.

We haven't got around to closing our other ones yet at our old bank. I opened one up here when I left my X, and he had one already there. We each have like $10 left in them.

Boys r us replied: Well,if she's irresponsible with money, it sounds like maybe he has a good reason no to have joint accounts

We did not..it works better for us that way. Rick takes the brunt of the bills, I have a few small ones..well actually all I pay for are daycare for Braedon and my car payment and insurance, he pays everything else..ohhh and I buy most of the groceries.

We do have a joint savings, but 80% of our paychecks go into our own accounts..20% goes into a joint savings. But if I need money, then I'll ask him for some and in the end it just works out great for us..we don't have to worry about who used their checkcard here or there and didn't tell the other one or record it..all of that stuff! You could say we have "joint finances" b/c all of our money..no matter whose name it is on the account, we know it is both of ours. We also have a rule that we discuss any purchases over $500...so neither of us buy anything major without talking and agreeing first.

Jamison'smama replied: We actually started combining before we got married but we still maintained our own accounts for a while after. We have everything combined now (10 years later) but my sister's family doesn't---I suppose you just do what works for your family and it sounds like your sister's husband is making a wise decision if she can't be trusted to stick within their means.

TeagansMom609 replied: We HAD a joint account before we were married but because he isnt responsible with money at all, now I just have my own account which all of the money goes into and I manage. He doesnt like it and wants to get a joint account again but NO WAY! Just because your married doesnt mean you HAVE to get a joint account. My parents didnt either.

coasterqueen replied: Well we were together roughly 5 years before getting married. We had combined our accounts about 2 or 3 years after we started dating. Then later on we thought maybe we'd do better if we seperated them....that worked out worse so then we went back to a joint account and have been ever since.

My sister has been with her boyfriend for three years now and they have seperate accounts and probably always will. They are both very very stingy with their money.

amynicole21 replied: We lived together for 2 years before getting married and never had joint accounts. When we bought the house, we had something like 5 accounts... 1 checking for each, 1 savings for each, and 1 joint account. All house stuff came out of the joint account, and personal purchases came from the personal checking. It worked out great for a long time. When Sophia was born we just went to one account, and that has been fine, too. I think I have reigned in my spending A LOT since being married I used to be down to $5 in my personal account before pay day.

ediep replied: we opened a savings account with our engagement gifts, then we both put most of our money in there and that is how we paid for the majority of our wedding and how we bought our house. Once we got married, we each closed out checking accounts, then we opened a joint checking. All of our money is together now.....good thing since I don't work, I'd have no money!

Mommybear replied: My husband and I decided if we really trust each other we would combine our bank accounts. We did this almost a year and a half before we got married and to this day still keep a combined bank account.

~~Mommybear~~



<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.snugglepie.com"><img border="0" src="http://www.snugglepie.com/tickers/tdb.php?tid=31679"></a>

ctymom replied: We went straight to combined. I dont see the since behind separate accounts. Although sometimes it would be nice b/c then i could buy something without knowing he would see how much it is! lol But DH deosnt care anyway... but it's the thought. lol

Pamela

jcc64 replied: We've been living together since we were 22 (we're now 39), and since the day we moved in together, everything's been jointly owned and controlled. We both have roughly the same salary and although our money styles are very different, it's always worked for us.

Kirstenmumof3 replied: Well when we got married I closed my account and my DH and I opened a joint account at his bank. Then I opened up a personal account for myself. Now I have one account, we have 2 joint accounts and DH has 3 personal accounts. We are working at only having 1 bank account, a joint account at the bank where our mortgage is held.

favre4fan replied: I have been with dh 4 years.We got marreid on may 29th of this year and still have not gotten a joint account. He wants too but we just have not gotten around to it yet.

5littleladies replied: We've always had joint accounts. I don't see the need for seperate. At least for us.

TANNER'S MOM replied: My husband and I share everything. Sometimes he is nice to me and lets me keep some money to save for something I want, and I do the same for him. But with us having 4 kids to cloth it takes it all.

But my MIL and FIL they have always kept there's completely separate, they have divided the household expenses and they each have there own bills. If it gets really bad they borrow from each other with an exact pay back date.

My MIL was married before and her husband died and she didn't have any money and she said she would never do that again, she will know exactly how much sha has and what would happen if she lost someone else, and I can really see that side of it too.

A&A'smommy replied: My SILs husband didn't put her on his checking account until they had been married for five years... she was HORRIBLE with her spending. And he was a REAL jerk, but they both changed and now she is on it and she doesn't spend money as bad.

Jeremiah put me on his checking account after we had been together for like two months

JenniferAllen replied: Before we were married, we had separate accounts, and we opened a joint savings for our wedding fund (which later became the house fund). My DH wasn't great w/ money to begin with, so even though my name wasn't on his account, I still wrote out the checks for the bills, and he signed the checks. His income is twice what I made (and I'd never be able to afford all the bills on my measely salary), so it worked out for us. Now that we're married, and I'm staying at home with our son (not working for money, but still working my butt off) I'm on his account, he's on mine (for emergency purposes only -he doesn't use the account at all), and we still have our house account (which is now called our emergency fund). We opened an account for Matt with his birth gifts, which we're both on. I feel that I'm more in control of the funds; since we bought a home, I really want to be finacially secure, and not owe debt, and make ends meet while still living comfortably.

From what I've read so far, it seems like most of the women today have access to their husbands accounts (because we're the ones paying the bills/stay at home moms, etc.), plus some have their own accounts.

Also, for me, it's still important to have my own account, because if anything were to happen to my DH, I wouldn't want to have to start all over establishing credit, bank accounts, etc. It still gives me a feel

Maddie&EthansMom replied: We have always had one checking acct. That is just our personality. We believe "What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine."

aspenblue1 replied: we have combined our accounts but we have friends that still have their own acct and split the bills.

3xsthefun replied: We got a joint account about 4 months after being married. We had the account for 3 1/2 years. But he now only has a account. I sent way to much money and didn't know how to control myself so he removed me from our account.

I'm really glad he did though, I think I would still be spending way to much money if not. I now only use cash and on occasion I use his atm card but that is it.

MomToJade&Jordan replied: When we got married we had seperate accounts. We had those for a while because for the first 3 months of our marriage we were in two different places. He was finishing tech school for the Air Force in Pensacola and I was trying to finally graduate from college in Tallahassee. We didn't actually get a joint account until we moved out here. It's easier this way. I am a SAHM so he is the only one bringing in the money right now. I think if I were to get a job we would keep it that way.

kimberley replied: we have two separate accounts we were going to open one together when we first got married but the bank wouldn't let us because he owed money to an old mastercard... like $100 since then, we never bothered.

redchief replied: Combined right after we got married. DW didn't have a checking account; only savings, so we consolidated all except my savings, which we eventually liquidated into other accounts. We've had to do a lot of experimenting with "who does what" with the account until we've gotten to our current confusing for most system.

dolfinrse replied: Before we got married, I had my own checking account, but dh didn't have any accounts. After our honeymoon, we went and I added him to my checking account.

~KARA~ replied: It was shortly after our youngest dd was born in 2002. I had a checking account that I kept open for child support purposes(oldest dd isnt current dh's)
In May of 2003 I got a settlement check of 10,000 so after that was gone I closed my account.