TimothySaffles.com

The Start

For many young couples, making enough money to cover the bills takes up most of their concern. Savings, investing and making large purchases all come a distant second to just putting food on the table and making sure the lights stay on.

During this struggle, many couples come up with their own unique, and often not-very-well-thought-out, banking and bill paying structures. This obviously leads to the ubiquitous “money argument” that couples go through….about every 2 weeks or so.

As a person who is rather money conscious, and admittedly quite money-selfish, I decided early on that the single unifying account for a dual wage earning couple would not work.

The Setup

Primarily, working on the assumption that all things are equal in a relationship, all bills are split 50/50.

One checking account is created at [insert banking institution of choice] from which all bills will be paid. Quite separately, yet at the same institution, one checking account is set up for one wage-earner’s direct deposit and a different one for the other wage-earner.

All of these accounts are linked together and accessible by both.

At certain times of the month, money is transferred from the individual account to the bill paying account for, you guessed it, bill paying! YAY! At most banks, these transfers can be setup automatically and without any fees.

The Analysis

Tim, why so complicated? Why not just one account?

In a word: ownership.

I make my money and she makes her money. I don’t count her money as mine (though sometimes I wonder about the reverse… )

Thus, after bills are paid, debt serviced, and savings/investing plan contributed to: go spend your money!

I don’t care if you buy 10 of the same shirts of different colors because they looked nice. Or 500 more candles for the house which will never be actually used. It’s your money. Spend it how you wish. You earned it.

Don’t have enough money to buy all the junk you want after the bills/savings etc? Get a better job. Or a second job. Or, shock of all shocks, buy less stuff!

The nice part about this financial setup is that it has multiple layers of safety, both financially and relationship-wise.

1. A family savings/investment plan is already hard wired into the structure.
2. There are no bill arguments because the bill structure is already determined (based upon the previous post: Individual Account Balances) and equality is maintained.
3. The romantic gestures are maintained. Taking her to a romantic dinner or on a vacation for which you’ve been pseudo-secretly saving means a little more when it comes from the personal account rather than some joint account. Or maybe I just think it does….
4. There is built-in motivation to keep costs low an/or wages high. Lower costs and higher earnings means more expendable cash at the end of the month. But don’t cheat on the savings. I know you were thinking it.

Conclusion

The point of the whole complicated setup is fairly simple, avoid the money-argument pitfalls and allow some leeway in spending of personal money on personal whims. Yes, there is a separation of property that kind of goes against the “couple” idea. But at the same time, don’t you want to maintain a little sense of self and spend some of the money you earned without having to check in?

I thought you might.