Let's talk finances

I'm trying to figure this out for myself and wanted to get an idea of what other brides were planning on doing. I'm trying to decide whether my FH and I should just have a joint account: a his, hers and joint account; or just a his and hers ( separate accounts). What do you think? nlp

We already have....

a joint account and we are not engaged yet. Since we plan on getting married soon (I should be seeing the ring real soon!) we just thought it would be best to save the money in one account and place in both our names in case anything happens. Between saving for a wedding and a condo/home leaving the money in our checking accounts wouldn't work b/c we would make excuses to spend it. We got an acct through ING Direct. It has the highest interest yield around.

Let's talk finances

My fiance and I just opened a joint savings account and we still have our separate savings and checking accounts. In my opinion it's important to have a joint account where we can put our engagment and wedding gifts.

Let`s talk finances

I think it depends on what you want. Personally, I'd like keep a lot of independence, so we'll have both a joint savings/checking & individual savings and checking. I want to feel that if I want to buy an expensive present for my fiance (or someone else for that matter) he doesn't have to know about it. Just my two cents.

Let`s talk finances

Wow, I was thinking about posting on the same topic last night! My FI and I are at a place where, even though we don`t have a joint checking or savings account, we use each other`s accounts. For instance, I opened a savings account last year to save for our Bermuda cruise this spring. He has the number and is going to put his share of the cruise money into my account. We treat all of the accounts as 'ours' even though, technically, only the wedding fund is in both of our names. I think that once we move in together we are going to open a joint savings and a joint checking account, and then each have a seperate fund for spending money. He is a big fan of the ATM machine. I have no idea how I would keep track of every ATM stop he made if ALL of our money was in one joint fund. I just think it will be easier if we each have some money that can be set aside to be used without explanation. Especially around the holidays and birthdays. I am much more of a penny pincher and I think it will avoid a lot of arguments if he has a certain amount of money he can spend without handing me a withdrawal receipt or anything, becuase I tend to have a lot to say about how he spends his money. But, I am super anal. I hate that he buys coffee every morning instead of making it. Even though it is not THAT much money, it seems like such a waste! He loves me anyway... Becky

Let`s talk finances

Well, my fiance and I have been living together for almost 3 years, and we have a joint account. We started out with seperate accounts, but that was nothing but a hassle, so we decided to get a joint account. It's a lot easier when you write out checks for bills, and stuff. Good luck!

Let`s talk finances

we will have a joint checking and savings with IRA's in both are names as well. We are keeping all of our credit cards in single names though but I am getting POA on his from when he is out on a mission. Also, I am changing the title on my car and giving it to him as a gift (no taxes that way) so that we save on taxes and fees since we will be moving frequently and he is the active duty member and basically you just save that way.

Let`s talk finances

Becky, This is why I posted this message. I`m so unsure as to what to do. On the one hand by friend who got married feels strongly about having only one joint account. She said she needed this in order to feel like a couple (team). But I have been living by myself for a long time and I`m a little hesitant about loosing my independence. I don`t like the idea of having to ask permission to purchase things. But the idea of doing everything jointly does have its appeal.

Let`s talk finances

We are going to have a joint acct when we get married. We both really want that, since he's a Wall St. guy and really good with money, and I'm not at all! It will just be easier for him to watch over the money (b/c we both know I won't) when it's in one checking acct than in 2 or 3.

do both

My FH and I opened a joint account to save for the big stuff, like our wedding, honeymoon and eventually a house. But we still have our seperate accounts for the everyday stuff. That way I still have my independence but at the same time we have our other account which we both put into and this is where the money will go from our wedding.

nlp

Everyone is different. I grew up in a one income family as the oldest of seven kids, so obviously, we were not very well off. As a consequence, I am a total freak about money and not wasting it. My FI and I have different ideas about what constitutes 'wasting.' The bottom line is that I know we will have a budget - this much for bills, food, wedding, etc and this much for spending. I want us to have seperate checking accounts for that spending money so that we don`t run into problems with discussions as to why I have bought yet another Bridal magazine or why he bought yet another shirt. I swear, he has more clothes than I do! I want all of our savings will be in one account and we will have a joint checking for everything except a little bit of spending money each month. Now, how much spending money do we need? Yeah, that`s a WHOLE nother story! Becky

Let`s talk finances

Scott and I opened a joint savings right after we got engaged. Then we both added each other to our other accounts. After the wedding we are going to combine everything, but I will still keep my own checking account that I will use for things like my manicures, haircuts, gifts etc..

If you keep a joint account and seperate accounts....

this might sound silly....(me and my husband are just now talking about how it will work) How do you divide the $$? When we got engaged we opened a joint savings and each had our own checking. We figured how much we each can afford to put in and put that amount in the savings each month. Our checking accts were used for our personal bills (cell phone, car payments, loans etc). Now that we are married those personal bills are ours now - not mine or his. How do we come up with what money goes into your seperate checking when your married? I like the idea of having a both - joint and seperate - but how?

FebruaryBride This is what I am doing (long)

My FH and I have already set up a joint savings and checking account. His check gets deposited in checking and my check gets deposited in savings. His check pays for bills (and there are a lot from me lol), personal stuff, etc. My check pays for the wedding. What we have decided on doing is when we are married his check will pay for rent, bills, and personal stuff. My check we will bank away to save for a house. What we are going to do so I feel I actually have money to spend and do whatever with is to set up a separate account in my name and deposit extra money in there for me to spend whatever on and this way I dont have to worry that this will effect our savings or cheking account. As soon as the money gets to zero in my account I will just deposit the difference when needed. I can honestly say we have had no problems doing it this way and we are actually finished paying the wedding off...just the hard part is the bills.

If you keep a joint account and seperate accounts....

my girlfriend and her husband have been married for 5 years. they have a joint savings and checking (use the checking for mortgage payment, utilities, etc) AND they both have separate checking accounts as well, for thier cell phones, personal expenditures, if they want to buy the other a gift, etc. They just never wanted to close their separate accounts after they got married, so they didn't

What we have done......

I need a separate bank account to track business expenses for tax purposes, so we have one checking account in my name, a joint checking in both our names that he uses and I only touch in an emergency, and a joint savings account that we both contribute a set amount to each month. That money is set aside for the wedding at this point, but after the wedding, it will be a nest egg account. We've had a joint account for years, however I find it a bit easier to track when we have the 3 accounts, believe it or not. This way, he can see what he is spending on, and I can watch my finances closely, and we can save easily and know that that money isn't touched.