Joint bank accounts

My previous marriage I already had a home and he moved in with me so as all the standing orders to do with the house were set up on my account already he just transferred a set amount each month. We did get round to opening a joint account which we each added to for savings for holidays etc.

This time we each kept our own accounts and h2b pays everything and he is self employed too.

I didn't really want to only have a joint account as I heard ages ago that in the event one of you dies it can cause a delay in the one left being able to get at money. May be totally wrong anyway. Basically I've had that account a long time and didn't want to close it.

Also once bitten twice shy my ex cleared out the joint account! Therefore I didn't want everything that's ours all in one basket.

Which probably doesn't help you make any decision sorry. Do what feels easier/best for you. With us it's what is easier not so much a question of trust really.

Well (said with pursed lips and bashing the iPad keyboard....while He's laughing at me!)

We got a joint bank account roughly 18 months after we met and a year ish before we got engaged. For my liking that was far too early however we were in the process of buying a house together so I consoled myself that it made sense.

For the record, I have no objection to H2B knowing the ins and outs of my finances. What I didn't like so much was that I was practically being forced into it.

There was very good reason that H2B wanted us to do this. He'd been stung badly by his 2 ex's. One who squirrelled money into her own account and ran up loads of debt (some joint debt too) and the other who lied and gambled (badly, clearly!). I never doubted why H2B wanted complete vision of our money, it just felt very 'soon'.

it didn't stop at the bank account though. We combined eBay, PayPal and Amazon accounts; my credit card was cancelled and I was added as an additional card holder on his. This meant I had no visibility of the account.... But he did.

At first H2B would check the accounts pretty much daily to see what was going on. This felt like a distinct lack of trust. Even though I completely understood why he did it. These days though he checks maybe once or twice a week, especially towards the end of the month to make sure we don't go overdrawn etc.

I have to say that at no point has my spending been monitored in a bad way. If I need things, I can buy them. At first there was some sort of self-imposed limiter that kicked in however that was all self inflicted and not something that H2B instilled. I now don't worry about shopping, as long as there's money there, we've paid our bills and we're not going overdrawn then it's fine.

Things have relaxed now though. I've obviously proven myself to be trust worthy and I now have my own credit card so that I can buy birthday/Christmas presents etc for him without him knowing exactly what I've bought. His suggestion too. Hallelujah!

I have to say, it's not all that bad. A lesson in trust yes but it's not necessarily a bad thing.

We lived together for about 6 years without having a joint account, we knew the ins and outs of each other finances but it's so easy to transfer money between accounts nowadays that we didn't really need one. The only minor issue we had was that OH was often paid by cheque and I worked near a bank, so if he was away or needed his bank card that day it meant I could spend ages queuing instead of being able to use the deposit machine.

About 18 months ago we realised that we had quite a few accounts between us, including some old ones we didn't really use. This was the first time we had really started to save properly and it made sense to have all of our money in one place. We closed all of our old accounts and made OH's packaged account into a joint account, so that we could both use the benefits for one monthly fee. We also have a joint savings account. For us it works, having all of our money in one place makes it easier to budget for the month and we don't have to keep transferring money between accounts like we used to.

I couldn't just have a joint account. I had one with my ex, which was supposedly for us to both put bill money into, but he did so much spending out of that account I ended up transferring all of my disposable income from my sole account into the joint one just to keep us from going into the red. After he left, despite losing his salary and bills staying the same, I somehow was able to put over £500 into savings every month.

OH and I have separate accounts, but all of the bills are paid from his account and I have standing orders set up to pay 50% of the bills into his account on the first of every month. We are very open about our finances. We discuss them regularly, including how much we each have left this month, how much we're saving and what for etc. In particular, if we're thinking of treating ourselves to a meal out or something we discuss whether "we" can afford it. Leisure spending is either done 50/50 or whoever can afford it at the time pays for it. If one of us is particularly strapped for cash or has an unforeseen bill, the other will give them the money and then it is repaid straight away the following month. For example, I've had to borrow some money from OH this month to fix my laptop because I need it for work, so next month I'll transfer that back to him as soon as I get paid. That way, we can treat our finances jointly while still retaining financial independence.

We got a joint current account when we moved in together. I assumed we'd have separate and just move funds together to pay bills but my OH said he was happy to have a joint account. He's also self employed but it makes no difference to us. I also have a savings account in my name, but only because I don't pay tax, so we will earn more interest.

Te be honest my OH has no idea what goes in or out every month, or even what we have in our current account/savings. He trusts me enough and knows I'll pay all the bills, sort the savings and generally keep an eye on it all.

We have a joint account and owr own accounts. The joint account is in effect a household account all our bills etc come out of it and we each transfer a certain amount each month. I have an ISA so I tend to hold o to the savings.

Just do what feels right for you.

The mortgage, bills etc were coming out of my account when he moved in so we left them like that and he transfers money to me for those, then we have a joint account for food. We also now have a joint savings account, but we have individual current and savings accounts too.

We set up a joint account when we decided to look into emigrating.

At that time we were living together, but the house and all utilities were in H's name and I just transferred him some money monthly to cover costs, but we were advised that (especially due to our age difference) this could be construed as being a landlord-lodger arrangement. We were told that we should either put the house and associated bills in joint names (neither of us were keen) or set up a joint account. So that's what we did, but we only used it as a savings account that we paid into equally to cover holidays etc, everything else stayed as it was.

Now we have moved our assets here in NZ are jointly owned (mortgaged) but we still keep our finances separate. I earn my money, he earns his and we have a joint account that we pay into equally each month - the joint account covers all our bills, food, cars and we spend any surplus on treats like meals out or theatre trips. But apart from that what I earn is my money and he earns is his, it stops us quibbling over whether I really needed that new pair of shoes, or whether he really needed the third motorbike!

ETA: H hates dealing with money, but is a lot better off than I am. He often spends without thinking where I never do. I am the one with designated responsibility to ensure the joint account has enough into cover all the necessaries, and while we both shared out bank details with each other H lost the bit of paper within a week and doesn't have a clue how to access his own accounts online never mind mine. I on the other hand have the details of the joint account and both of our individual ones committed to memory!

We work the same as MadamRed ?

Works for us, I'd like a joint savings, but mainly because I'm sh!t at saving and it'd motivate me (or it needs a second signatory so I can't go "ooooh omg shoes need, buy!)

We have a joint account which everything goes in and out of. We both have our own current accounts and saving accounts as well but I rarely use my current account for anything. Once you're married legally everything is joint anyway so even if you have seperate accounts, half of that money isn't yours.

We have a joint account, and it's mainly used for household expenses like bills, food and dog treats! We both put the same amount in each month, and whatever's in our personal account is our own to spend as we wish. OH earns more than I do, but somehow he always manages to go into his overdraft!

We opened our joint account when we got our own home which was two years into the relationship, but we've always had our own current accounts too. So the joint is only used for bills.

He wants to have a joint account and wants to convert his savings accounts into a joint account. The plan is that we will use it for wedding money and after the wedding for any other saving we need to do (holidays, home, kids etc) but I'm not keen! We both have a current and savings account at the moment and have split the bills pretty evenly. He earns more than me so he does tend to pay more of the household bits (like food shopping) but then I pay slightly more in bills a month (about £100) so our disposable income is usually pretty balanced.

With internet banking and how easy it is to transfer money between our accounts I can't say I see the need for a joint current account - if he needs money or vice versa it's just as easy for the other person to transfer it over. And for wedding stuff it's probably better than he has access and can monitor how much I'm spending! He's in charge of the spreadsheet and I'm in charge of spending the budget wisely and making it go as far as it can.

To be fair to him he wouldn't comment on my spending - he's not the sort of guy that wants me to justify every penny I've spent. As long as we get to the end of the month then it's all good. It's more my inner independent woman wanting to hold on as long as she can!

We have our own accounts, and we set up a joint account for bills and food shopping and as we are with different banks, the joint account was with a third, because we were both convinced in a not too awake moment, we'd try to put in our personal pins onto the joint (or vise versa) and block the card or account. I also have a savings account which is a new car/wedding and just incase the roof caves in money, and an ISA from some inheritance. I do not have internet banking on mine, and we don't on the joint mainly because of the ease of transferring money, the fact that I have to physically go down to the bank to touch my savings means they tend to stay put as I hate queueing at the bank. Neither of us want to stuff on the joint without the other person so again no internet banking there.

Our finances are a little complicated because it was my inheritance that bought our house, and it's a single mortgage, so he'd pay cash to me for the mortgage before setting up the joint, now he puts extra in the joint, because the mortgage I think legally has to come out of my account not the joint. It does have it downfalls, as I'm solely responsible for things like replacing the boiler and water tank, plumbers etc but coincidentally every time I've had one of these expenses, the following night I get flowers and taken out to dinner, etc. This works for us, I know his annual salary he knows mine, but neither know the exact amount after taxes, student loans etc, and we wouldn't want to, as we both had exes who were financially dependent on us, his was far longer, and as such we are private with money and insist on everything being 50/50.

We have a joint account in Australia. We were told to get one by our financial advisor. We also have individual accounts in Australia, and I have accounts in the US and UK. I was pretty apprehensive at first because I felt like I was losing independence, but now it's fine.

We transfer all of our pay save for $100 to the joint account. It's used to pay our mortgage, credit cards and bills. We have a joint credit card and try to run all of our expenses through it. That earns us Qantas points and we normally have enough for return tickets to Europe or the US each year.

We earn about the same, although he's starting a new job next month that will double his pay. We have the same attitudes towards money so it's pretty efficient. I'd be less inclined to enter the same arrangement with someone who's a heavy spender or gambler.

We got a joint account when we moved in together as it was just easier for us. We now have a joint credit card and this week we're merging our clubcard accounts (oooh the commitment!!).

We are both self employed and so both have 'work accounts' and we then transfer accross like a 'wage' to cover all the bills etc

My hubby earns 2.5x my basic salary more than me! When we got together he already had his own house bills set up etc, so I transfer an amount to him on payday and then we transfer same into a joint account for food, he does pay a lot more than me for bills but I tend to pay a bit more than him for social, he also pays my phone bill, each year I end up with a year old phone and he gets the newest out, he's a gadget addict I'm not so I'm happy to do that. Other than that my play money is mine his his but we would always be the first to help each other out. I'm a bit better with my banking than him and he's amazed I have my card details memorised!

We have a joint account for bills and both transfer a set amount on payday to cover bills, food, house repairs, savings etc. Then whatever is left is ours but we'll both treat each other. If one of us is short we'll transfer money over.

We both know how much the other earns and we are very open about money.

We set up a joint account when we moved in together. We each transfer the same amount to cover household bills. We then have our own accounts for whatever is left over and we spend that how we want. We also have a savings account which is in my name for the wedding. We are very open with money and help each other out as needed. I think it's important to have your own independence with a bank account. I know that if my partner God forbid ever left me I would be able to support myself and to me that is so important.