If you have visited this site before, you may know that I am very transparent when it comes to money. I think that it is incredibly bizarre that money makes the world go around, we all need cash, and yet we most of us Brits here in the UK completely refuse to converse about it.

However, in today’s post I am going to sit down with you guys and share a post all about how we manage our household finances. The small things that we do to ensure that all out bases are crossed when it comes managing our household and that everything is paid quickly and efficiently.

 

 

We have a very transparent finance document.

For our house, I quite naturally created one of the best spreadsheets that I have ever drafted. You can take one quick glance at that document and it is incredibly easy to see where our money is, what we need to spend money on and what each of our bills are. Both of us have access to this document, if any financials change, if new bills are created, etc. then I can quickly edit the document and it self calculates hell of a lot of the new stats.

 

We speak openly about money.

One thing that I do want to mention very early on is that my husband have no secrets when it comes to money. Even though we do have our own bank accounts, we are very aware what the other one earns and we have regular conversations about money. I think because we started our relationship that way, it has never been an issue or something that we have had to address. I would highly recommend going into a relationship wit an idea of how transparent you want to be when it comes to the management of cash.

 

We have one shared bank account for household finances.

Once we both know what amount we need to pay, we both set up a direct debit from our independent bank accounts into one central household account. From this one account, all bills which are relating to the house come out and then we both know where we stand. We then use that same account for food shopping, unexpected bills, etc. And because we have the central account for the house, we both maintain our own independent accounts.

 

We pay into the household account based on a percentage of our earnings.

Back when we first go the keys to our home, my husband and I paid the same amount into our household account per month. I think at the time we both paid around £550 into our household account and it felt incredibly fair. However, as time passed by and our earnings differed, it no longer felt fair that we were responsible for paying in the same amount. Instead, I calculated how much each of us should pay based on our annual income. That way, the amount we pay is relative to our earnings and it feels much more well rounded.

 

We both overpay into our household account.

Beyond what we need to pay into the household account for our bills and mortgage, both my husband and I make slight overpayments into that account. For example, if I need to pay £700 into that account per month, I may pay in £750. Then that remaining £50 which is unaccounted for will sit there, add up month after month and within a short amount of time we have a nice amount of ‘float’ money. That money will then be used for unexpected expenditure such as a broken boiler, repairs, etc.

 

We make overpayments on our mortgage.

One thing that I have always been very firm on is that we make overpayments on our mortgage. I can remember the day we signed for our 25-year mortgage, I broke out into a cold sweat. The thought of being in long-term debt was a terrifying prospect. At the end of the day, my husband and I are incredibly lucky that we are able to make overpayments and as long as we are able to, we will do it and shave years from the end of our mortgage.

 

As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this post and learning more about how we manage our household finances. It is small things that we have done and how we communicate with one another that ensure that our finances are smooth and easy to manage. And long may it continue because it is things like this that really matter in any kind of partnership.

Be sure to leave me a comment below. Let me know what you think about what I have shared above and if you have any tips, please do leave them in the comments below.