How We Manage Our Money

When you own your own home, something that you have to talk openly about is money. I live with my wonderful husband who I have been with now for almost a decade. In the early days when we were saving for a house, we had to open up and discuss cash. As much as it pained us (because us Brits hate speaking about money), we had to do it.

To know our budget and get a plan together, each of our money had to be transparent. Since then, we put together a great plan around how we manage our money and run out home. Before I get into the points, these are just the things that work for us. I know that other couples are very different. This is just how we run things and how things will continue.

 

 

We have a spreadsheet with ingoings and outgoings.

As I am the self-proclaimed spreadsheet queen, you knew that I was going to have to mention one. I have a single document that lists everything. It shows how much my husband and I earn per month. As well as the outgoings for the house each month. Then, I have set up my formulas so that it works out how much each of us needs to pay into the account, depending on our earnings. Also, if we have loaned out any cash, I will document everything on here. Because I keep this on Google Sheets, I can share it with my husband and he can see everything clearly. If this spreadsheet wasn’t so confidential I would love to share it. Honestly, my formulas on there are a work of art. Only fellow Excel nerds will feel my excitement!

 

We have a joint account for the house.

Something that we have had since the first days of saving for our deposit is having a household account to manage our money. Both of us have a standing order set up to this and the cash goes in on the 1^st of each month. With this cash, we have enough to pay all bills, buy all food and have some left for savings. For this account, we both have a card and access to the online banking. For us, this just works. Once we make that automatic payment into that account, we know that we don’t have to worry. Our cash is our own to enjoy and everything with the house is taken care of. Plus, as we overpay into that account, there is enough as a safety net.

 

We have our separate accounts.

I can remember before we bought our house, somebody we work with said that we must get a joint account. The lady that recommended it said that herself and her husband pay into one account and just had a single pot of cash. We tried this and it didn’t work. To be honest, I think that we lasted all of three months before we switched back. I don’t want to see that my husband has drawn £300 out of the cash machine for a day at the football and I don’t want him to see how much I spend in Chanel in Bond Street over the weekend. As I mentioned, we have a collective account where we pay all of our household bills and for anything household-related, but we don’t need to see every penny that the other is spending.

 

We don’t ask questions.

As I mentioned above, we have separate accounts to help manage our money. I have mentioned the reasons why we do that. As part of that, we don’t ask questions. I don’t want to know what he is spending his money on. As long as he isn’t spending it on another woman or to support a secret family, I honestly don’t care. Don’t get me wrong, if he is going to buy a new car that will set him back the best part of £30,000 cash, I am going to ask. However, I always ask questions in an inquisitive way, not a judgemental way. However, we are a married couple and we speak all of the time, so chances are that if we are making any large purchase, we are probably going to chat about it anyway.

 

We have a rainy day fund.

Something that has always been important to me is to have a rainy day fund. I think that this is partly because I grew up with no money. I came from a family where money was incredibly tight. Some months we literally had to beg, borrow and steal just to get by. I now feel like my life is a blessing. I pinch myself that I can walk into M&S and do a food shop without having to mentally add up how much it is going to cost and if I can afford it. In a way, I am always scared that the rug is going to be pulled from under my feet. For that reason, I need a contingency plan. We have a joint savings account and we pay into this without fail each money.

 

I hope that you guys liked this blog post all about how we manage our money. As I mentioned, I am not saying that people must go out and do this. These things worked for my husband and I, for the lifestyle that we lead. Money is very important when you are running a house because money makes it all run smoothly.

The key thing for us is having enough to pay the bills and putting a bit in savings each month. I am glad that we have the account with a pool of money for the both of us. However, I also love that we have our independence and separate money. I would love to hear from you guys. Please do leave me a comment below. Let me know if and what you do differently to us!