04-05-2013, 11:10 PM
Linds and I have always maintained separate bank accounts. We keep incredibly detailed records of our spending across all accounts in a single application, which we also use for budgeting & forecasting. As Julie mentioned, if you want to know where I ate for lunch on Oct 10, 2007 and how much it cost, I can tell you (if I ate out - I usually take leftovers...). I think this record keeping (and the analysis ability to provides) is one of the core reasons for our continue financial success.
Back when Linds was working, we split the monthly bills/mortgage roughly down the middle. We used to have a mortgage with Suntrust and would deposit the bill money in an account there each month (generally via direct deposit so we never even missed it) and pay out of it with the goal of carrying a very low balance. Anything left was in our personal accounts and used to live and have fun. Each of us was responsible for coming up with the money for payments of any car/student loans that we had as an individual, and I generally ran the finances for the household.
When Linds stopped working, obviously all of that became my responsibility. However, the car loans were paid off, so that just left the mortgage, bills, and student loans. The mortgage has been refinanced and I just pay that each month with the same account I pay any other bills, Linds pays her student loans out of an "allowance" I direct deposit into her account, and we "live" off of our credit cards. We just pay them off every month, so no biggie there.
That said, our financial plan revolves around clear communication and planning for all large purchases. Any purchase over $100 (including groceries) generally requires some form of discussion, and there are literally zero whimsical purchases. If I want a car part, it impacts our family budget/goals and we talk about it to set a timeframe and the same goes for everybody else's wants; needs are always taken care of as the highest priority. We sit down frequently to talk about what we want and write them down in priority and timeline. Every time we have that discussion, we also do an assessment of things remaining from the last time we talked about the big purchases - more often than not, we don't even care any more about some of the things we wanted before and they get cut. Making sacrifices and delaying "wants" to facilitate long term benefit is the name of the game for us right now.
Back when Linds was working, we split the monthly bills/mortgage roughly down the middle. We used to have a mortgage with Suntrust and would deposit the bill money in an account there each month (generally via direct deposit so we never even missed it) and pay out of it with the goal of carrying a very low balance. Anything left was in our personal accounts and used to live and have fun. Each of us was responsible for coming up with the money for payments of any car/student loans that we had as an individual, and I generally ran the finances for the household.
When Linds stopped working, obviously all of that became my responsibility. However, the car loans were paid off, so that just left the mortgage, bills, and student loans. The mortgage has been refinanced and I just pay that each month with the same account I pay any other bills, Linds pays her student loans out of an "allowance" I direct deposit into her account, and we "live" off of our credit cards. We just pay them off every month, so no biggie there.
That said, our financial plan revolves around clear communication and planning for all large purchases. Any purchase over $100 (including groceries) generally requires some form of discussion, and there are literally zero whimsical purchases. If I want a car part, it impacts our family budget/goals and we talk about it to set a timeframe and the same goes for everybody else's wants; needs are always taken care of as the highest priority. We sit down frequently to talk about what we want and write them down in priority and timeline. Every time we have that discussion, we also do an assessment of things remaining from the last time we talked about the big purchases - more often than not, we don't even care any more about some of the things we wanted before and they get cut. Making sacrifices and delaying "wants" to facilitate long term benefit is the name of the game for us right now.