This is just out of curiosity because I heard somebody on a talk show discussing this and I thought it was a rather interesting topic.


So...what do you think about married couples having three bank accounts: a his account, her account, and a joint account?

At first I thought, "Why would you need all three? Isn't his money her money and her money his money anyway?" But then there are some pluses to having your own account. I mean, if it is yours than you can buy whatever and don't have to check with your spouse first. That isn't to say that you still shouldn't be wise. But say, as a girl, you fall in love with a great purse (this has never happened to me before) and it is $50 (who would spend fifty bucks on a purse?) and you have to have it. If you had your own account you would just get it and not worry about what your husband thinks because it is your money.

But at the same time I think this could make it really difficult, because then it could get into a whole "this is my money not yours" scenario. I think, though, that as long as you still agree that all the money is shared by husband and wife, it could make it easier.

Thoughts? Opinions?

Personally, I'm all for one account. And I don't really think I'd need to consult my husband before every little purchase. I mean, if I need a new pair of jeans or something, I figure I'll just go get them if we have the money. I won't really feel the need to call him and ask his opinion on that. Now, if shopping was getting out of hand or money was really tight, then it might be a different matter. But, I'm still all for having only one account. It keeps you accountable, in a way. (NO pun intended.)

I've always just assumed I'd have one account with my man, cause that's how my parents did things. But...I've seen some times that when you have two incomes and two people spending the money, it can be easier to split things up. Brent's view is that you get one joint account, and at the start of the month, you put into that all the money that will be used for paying bills. Then you each take half of what you have left over and put it in savings; the other half is yours to do with as you see fit...so you'll buy your clothes and food out of that, and if you want to go to a fine restaurant on your lunch break, ok....or you can save that money and buy a new power supply for your computer or whatever you'd like. I think it could reduce arguments over money because you each can choose how you do what. (Brent also says that he'd be forever forgetting to tel me he'd spent money, and then the account would bounce...which is no good...he operates mostly on a cash-based system; I operate mostly on debit card...so...probably better if the two of us would do stuff separately! )

You totally meant that pun

Our current arrangement is that we both still have our own bank accounts that we had from before being together, Ben's being Visa, mine just ordinary. I get a set amount of cash each fortnight for personal spending and the money in my acct is for family spending (ie. groceries, nappies, etc). It's just been easier that way, as Ben knows how much is coming in and going out. Especially with one income. But now that I'm not a student anymore, I get charged fees, so our plan is to close mine and get a second card for his acct for me.

I think I would probably prefer one account. We'd probably have some budget rules, like a certain amount per month each person can spend on extras. Also, maybe something like, not buying anything over $100 without just letting the other person know.

We have one- I thought it'd be good because I have the tendency to impulse buy, and Mike is a more of a tightwad. We struck a good balance there. Out of courtesy I usually tell him when I'm buying something- he usually just laughs and says I don't need to be granted his permission. However, nowdays with our situation, he's kind of the lock and key and I do need to tell him what I'm buying and usually why I'm buying it (it wasn't like that when we were both gainfully employed).

I know a few people who thought it was absurd that we were joint checking- and the one bummer thing about a joint checking account is that when you buy something for each other, like a gift- it's like "well...that's nice...you bought it with...our money." Or the tendency is for Christmas to be like "we'll just buy ourselves our own Christmas presents...it's coming from the same place...right?" Or it can sometimes be sticky if one person receives birthday money or something in the form of a check- or money you earned from selling plasma or selling something else equally precious... and you don't wanna share it. Does that make sense?

I would really be in favor of one account. I think that's what my parents have, but it would help me (being the free spender that I am) to not buy as much. If one of my parents gets a birthday check, they cash it or deposit it right away, but they will often go out to the store right away and buy something with it so they can write "thank you for the money, I bought an elephant blah blah blah . . . " and all that. Dad doesn't expect mom to give him her birthday checks and he doesn't spend them, and vice-versa.

I'll probably have my own account, plus a joint one. I mean, we live in a day and age when most people have more than one account anyway. I have 3. It's good, it means if someone stole my car and emptied my account, I have back up. Well not at the moment, coz I'm broke

I have fairly significant debt atm, and I am working really hard on paying it all back so it won't be there when I get married. (eating lots of lentils at the moment mmm...) But chances are, if I get married in the next couple of years, there will still be a bit left, and I'm not gonna expect my husband to pay that off for me. My mistakes put me there ( I totalled my first car before I had finished paying it off, so now owe 2 cars worth ) and so I will fix it. I don't want my husband to have to scrimp and save just because I have to. Hopefully that won't be a problem, the current plan is for me to be paid off by the time I am 21,and I get money from my grandparents then yay!

We are definitely going for the three bank account solution. Several reasons:

- We come from different financial backgrounds and I'm pretty much bringing all the money to this marriage (yes, I know, unconventional...). Now it's not that I don't trust him, because I do, but I want to continue to keep my savings locked away until we really need them (i.e. a downpayment on a house or something like that). If we tip it all into one current account right away, it'll just get frittered away.

- My dad has always taught me one bank account is dangerous, especially in today's economic climate. What if the bank went bust? Sprinkle your money into different accounts and you'll always have something to fall back to.

- We want to avoid the whole 'I bought your present with our money' thing - plus, it's nice not to know how much the other person spent on you!

- He likes buying loads of CDs - I think that's a waste of money. I like spending my money on clothes - he thinks that's a waste of money. If we have our own accounts for such fripperies (hehe!), then we can't accuse each other of wasting "OUR" money. Money is a really big source of arguments in many marriages and we want to avoid that right from the start.

So, we'll be keeping our current individual accounts and using our current wedding account as our new joint one. We've agreed that a set proportion of our salary will go into the joint account for household or couple things (rent, holidays, meals out together, bills), and the rest will be ours to do what we like with.

We have a few accounts lol... I just 'found' two old accounts where interest had been piling up, YAY! And then the account where I put all my cheques from work and teaching music... and gifts and whatnot, also his birthday cheques go in there and the occasional preaching gift. We'd merge, but its nice to have them totally different. I have an eftpos card for 'my' account, but I don't use it, just tend to save every cent in that account. Its nice because I don't see it so I don't spend it and on the occasion I DO see it I get a nice surprise

Then there is the 'joint' account. Attached is visa, eftpos and we have a nifty system where you can see where all the $$ is going. A pie chart thingy.

However... I take out a certain amount from that 'joint' account every week and use it for everything. Food, clothes, petrol, etc. Its a very very small amount and sometimes its quite hard to make ends meet, but its really good practise and means I'm far less likely to buy clothes or pretty stuff if I want to eat!

The two accounts are with 2 banks and from time to time I think of opening another with a different bank (and most definitely not the bank that our major airline is with!) and just having that for a 'travel fund' or 'house improvements' or something like that! I totally love the fact with the other accounts that I don't see how much is in there The 'joint' one was originally W's, but we changed to joint just to make it easier - we don't do much independently and generally always check if its a 'big' purchase.

Oh yeah, and I'll have to open one for Archie soon!