How do you feel about starting a joint bank account with your spouse?

Thank you for your advice. That is what exactly I am going to do. I will keep a seperate account for myself too. I just got married and started living together. I am new and I not sure about how the whole system will work. I was doubtful about how it is going to work. Your advice is valuable. That is what exactly I was having in my mind.

I recommend that you both keep a separate account for yourselves, but that you use a joint account to pay your monthly bills and expenses. Also, you should each put a percentage of your income into this joint account to be used in case of emergency, or in case you need money for car repairs or other expenses...

goldeneagle, if you don't mind me being so nosey, had you not a debit card or checks so that if you did forget the money you could write a check for your purchases? I just don't understand the need for a second account is all. daliaj, If it's like with my husband, things just fall into place. He does the balancing of the checkbook, I write the checks and he signs them, we ordered new checks with my name on them as well so as soon as the ones we have no run out, I will be writing and signing the checks. He does most of the purchasing as I don't have a job and so if we need something I just call and let him know, or let him know before he goes off to work. Things will work out, if you don't discuss it, things will just fall into place. As for me, I am bad at math and though it's just simple subtraction, I'd rather he do the balancing of the checkbook. He doesn't like writing in cursive, so I get delegated to write the checks.

Like many people do, we have online banking. It helps a lot as we both have our own log in name and can see what's going on. There's a system to see what money is there, and what money isn't. An "available balanace" boasts the money we have to spend and a "holds" section tells what things are deducted from the available balance, but that still hadn't gone out. If you ever wanted to try with another account, and don't already use online banking, I'd recommend trying it as it's fairly easy, and you can see a statement indefinitely I do believe.

We have online banking have since they started it, but sometimes I schedule payments so the don't hit the account for a week or so or I have automatic payments and they don't show until deducted. So it just didn't work for us. We used to have joint credit cards as well, now we have none, but he would chanrge something and know that it would not show up for three days. We have both gotten a lot better about money but this is what works best for us. From time to time I still have to help him with his account because he will do something and is not sure what he did. He is really handy around the house and is really computer smart but money and him mix like oil and water. Good luck with your joint account it works for a lot of couples just not us.

When we just had a joint bank account I always felt guilty about asking my husband for money. He would have given me some to get myself something, but I did hear of others whose husbands were cheap and spent all the money on themselves, so I know what I am talking about.

Yes, of course. You should be very happy about your husband because you guys have a joint account he doesn't put any restriction for you to spend from that. Please understand that there are lots of people out here where their wives are not working and always control the expenses of their wives. This includes my father. You should be grateful and happy that the husband is fine with the joint account and doesn't concern about your spendings.

I never worked after I got married, and I was always nervous about asking for money. Then again my husband said we have to be careful especially with our food budget. It must have been all that expensive salads and veggies. He did not mind my getting extra soap or toilet paper or meat, but every time we would go into the produce department, he would say "don't spend too much money," and I told him something about if I did not have the fruits and vegetables, my teeth would fall out. Eventually years later he found that it was healthier to eat more fruits and veggies, but by then he lost most of his teeth so now he has a partial on the upper and a bridge on the lower teeth.

When I was a single girl having a joint account with anybody (boy friend, parents, or siblings)was never my option. So, it is better you wait for sometime. I have been married for more than one and half years. It took us some time to start the joint account. We didn't do it right away after marriage. It is always good to wait and then start a joint account.

We just started a joint account and put some amount in that account. But, I am going to have my own account and that will be my savings account. As Somecow girl responded to this discussion said, my husband and I can pay the common bills from that account and at the same time we can keep our own personasl savings accounts.

Hi daliaj, I think you will be fine with this decision about having an account for the housewhole and a seperate one for yourself. I think any financial advisor would agree with your decision.

I think it is always good to keep a joint account and keep a personal account for savings. Both of you can transfer some money to the joint account once in a while to pay for your family bills together. In this case, both of you are also having your personal account and be able to maintan secret in financial movemements if you wish to do so.

Yes, trust matters a lot. I don't think he will get money out of it without informing me. I am the primary holder of the account. We didn't get check books for the account, but we got debit cards. We didn't get credit cards for the joint account either. I hope we can manage the family finance in a better way by starting this joint account. Thanks for the response.

Yes, it is a big move and it has a lot to do with trust as many others who responded to this discussion said. I am planning to keep my own savings account once I start working. But, I feel it is always good to have a joint account with my husband in case of any emergency or any financial requirement. It is a good move in life too.

That is good. It is the way mostly it works in India too. Husband and wife don't descriminate regarding money. But, I think it is also good to keep their own money to avoid problems regarding money. I know your system helps guys. Women are good at calculating and making wise purchases. They look into lot of options before spending money. Good to hear that it works out for you.