I have said it before here on my blog and I will say it again. Money is such an important subject that not anywhere near enough people speak openly about. It is a very sad truth that it is money that makes the world go round. Even though I truly do not believe that money can make you happy. It certainly can bring you comfort and reduce your anxiety. I grew up in a household that did not have a lot of money.
It was a single-parent household and my mother did everything that she could in order to provide for my sister and I. Normally to the detriment of herself and her own needs. I knew that when my husband and I got the keys to our own home that I would have a certain plan for our cash. Here is our approach to money and our home.
I guess the first thing is that my husband and I have an account which we both put money in each month. We both put a chunk of cash in this account once a month after we have got paid from work. Then everything related to the house comes out of this account. This includes the mortgage, all bills and food. We overpay into this account each month. That way if anything ever needs to happen to the house such as a new boiler we have the cash. There were months growing up when I was younger where we would all be counting down to my mums payday. I still find it a blessing that we have this account sat there, purely for our bills and food which is sat at such a healthy limit.
Other than that, my husband and I have our own money which we keep separate. I know that to some people this may sound crazy, but let me explain why it works for us. I am the kind of person that will spend £5,000 on a handbag and not think twice about it. If this was coming out of an account which I share with my husband. It would be a discussion about the cost (because he has no idea how much all of my designer items are worth). I want to be able to spend my money how I want to spend it, without question and that is why it is easier if we keep it separate. The same goes for him because I know that on a Saturday at football with his friends he can spend hundreds of pounds buying drinks for everybody.
Even though we do have our own money, we are not the kind of couple that has to split every cost down the middle. Such as, we have friends that if they share a taxi with one other, if one of them pays, the other will give them the exact £6.72 that was their half. This is just craziness in my eyes when you are in a committed couple. We just try and be as fair with it as possible without keeping note or being too strict about it. If I know that my husband has paid for a couple of meals out. I will make a conscious note to get the next one. It is never that deep. But we just have a conversation about it and in our ten years together it has never been a problem for us.
I know that all couples are different. We have our account together which sorts out all of the important things. A saving pot together for a rainy day. We pay for things such as holidays and car-related things. We then have our cash which we can enjoy. I think that it is the perfect setup for us and our lifestyle. I know that for some people this is pretty silly. That even though we are a united partnership and we are married to one another, this just works for us.
I would love to hear how you manage your household finances, is what we do strange? Is it normal? Do you do something completely different?
