| Pros | Cons |
Joint | When you take the “what’s mine is yours” approach to money, it makes things simple. You have one account and one statement so there’s less paperwork. Plus, you feel like you’re a team. | Do you make a bigger salary than your spouse, or vice versa? The person bringing home more dough may resent that their partner is pulling more out of the pot than they’re putting in. Plus, there’s no privacy. Those new shoes or set of golf clubs are open season for a “how could you spend that!?” debate. |
Separate | Your philosophy is straightforward: “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours.” You’re free to spend as you please from your own accounts without having to explain it to your spouse. | Since you both handle your own finances, there’s little communication. Sussing out joint expenses can be a hassle because you always have to split down the middle, from meals to mortgages. Plus, there’s double the paperwork with two separate accounts. |
Mixed | Having a hybrid of joint and separate accounts can be the best of both worlds: You’re merged for major shared expenses but have the independence to spend your “fun money” as you please. | You have more to discuss up front, like what qualifies as “mine,” “yours,” or “ours.” The dry-cleaning bill may come out of your shared account, but does the dog walker’s come out of yours? Will you pool your “fun money” for a vacation? And instead of one or two accounts, there are three to keep track of. |
See More: Money , Money Q&A
62571037 
laharriis7
We have joint and separate. When planning for the wedding that we paid for ourselves, we created a joint savings account that we each put in a set amount each pay period, now that's become our vacation fund, and we've also created a debt account to pay-off my student loans, and his credit card debt that we both contribute a set percentage too. All the household bills, mtg, electric, heat, phone/internet/tv come out of my account since it was my house before and they are all auto-deduct payments anyway. My husband buys all the groceries, and pays whenever we go out and for any little things that pop up throughout the month. We also have each other listed on each others accounts as a just-in-case policy.
61588116 
storm1017
We each have our own checking and savings accounts; he's already on my account, and I'll be on his after the wedding (his credit union has weird rules). Not sure yet how we're going to work the 'who pays for what' since he makes a LOT more money than me, but we're slowly figuring that out...
61443388 
ljo128
We have joint and separate, checking and savings - that's 6 accounts, not even counting credit cards or loans! This was very tedious when we first moved in together, but we recently started using Quicken to keep track of everything. Seeing all the accounts in Quicken has made everything easier, and helped us be more organized in keeping track of our budget.
61423365 
cutebride73
We each have seperate accounts, but we put both names on the accounts so that if there was an emergency we could access the money. I write all the checks for the monthly bills, so he gives me the majority of each of his 2 monthly paychecks towards them. I also buy almost all groceries from my account (again, he has given my money towards this). We each pay our own car insurance and credit card debt and I have my student loans. I don't keep tabs on if the money he gives me is paying for this or that, I just know how much I owe for everything each month and pay it as it comes in. I also make a little more than he does and that will continue to increase because of the nature of our jobs. Anytime we go out to eat he pays and the rest of his money is his to do whatever with (parking, lunches out, etc...) He also has a job where he can make extra money by doing extra projects and I never really know how much he makes on those or how often, but he isn't out buying much, so I guess it goes towards us going out, etc... I also have a daughter from a previous relationship and anything she needs comes out of my account - well she might ask him for $5 here or there and he gives it to her, but generally I pay for her things.
61383909 
laureen38
we decided to do both - we kept our separate checking (debit card) accounts, and then we have a joint checking and a joint savings. we put a set amount into the joint savings each week, the majority of both our checks into the joint checking each week, and then each of us gets a little to play with. we use our separate accounts as more "fun money" then to pay our separate "old debt" with. we look at it like we adopted each other's debts when we got married. but if he wants to go get beers with the guys, or i want to buy lunch one day instead of making it, we can do that separately. it's just for little things like that. more social than serious finance.
61328351 
kyandjon
We have a joint account only. We are a team in every way, it doesn't matter who makes more or who has more debt, it is now our money and our debt. We are focusing on paying off the highest interest rate first, regardless of who's it is and who makes more. If hubs wants to surprise me with something, he just pulls out cash, and vice versus. If it is going to be more than 100 (besides what we already budget for like food), then we tell each other first. Well, mainly he tells me since I keep the check register.
61244586 
SaSa765
We have a yours/ mine/ ours set up, but we do it a little differently. My husband is salaried and I'm hourly, so sometimes my paycheck is much higher than his, and others it's not. So we have an equal amount going into our personal accounts ($100 every paycheck) and everything else goes into our joint. We pay all of the bills, debt, and everything we do together is out of the joint account. Our personal accounts are for the things that is "just for me" like video games or crafting supplies. It works out great!
61121516 
franie
Both my fiance and I work for a bank... After years of seeing what really happens with joint accounts we will NEVER have one. We have the same bank so we can make transfers when ever the other needs it, but that's about as far as it goes.
61035562 
ufgators2007
When we started living together, we did a joint account and separate accounts. We just got married in April and he has supposedly committed to helping me pay down my credit card debt. I would like to make it an equal effort and just have a joint account, but that is something I am slowly trying to convince my husband to do.
60978150 
TexasSwiss
We have a joint and I think it has been an important part of our marriage-- there isn't mine and yours, but ours. and things are out in the open.. we used to have a general-- if it is more than 50$ rule call the other person, but as we have grown more used to being married and sharing, this has relaxed. There were some eyebrows raised at how much i spend at the salon, but he was happy with the end result-- so no arguing. Also like pure joint because at one time, right after a big international move, I wasn't working-- there was no asking him for money because it was our money. We both came into the marriage with debt-- figured which one had the worst interest rate and paid that one off and then started in on the other one... now we are debt free and happy. I vote for joint.
60966180 
danielle.ryan
I feel as if we are in the minority on this one. We just have a joint account. This seemed like a natural choice for us. We wanted to make sure everything was out in the open. We both felt we would be hiding things if we didn't share an account. It also forces us to talk about everything we are spending. This was hard on me, I wanted to be able to have the freedom to buy what I want, when I want, but now there is accountability, and I have become much wiser with my money and spending habits. But I can definitely see the perks to both sides.
60944192 
missbeba
We have both joint and seperate. I love it! like most poeple below... the joint is for household expensive.. rent, utilities, phone, groceries and that type of stuff... as well as anything we do jointly. We but a percentage of our salary in the joint. Doing a percentage helps because we dont make the same amount, but yet we are still putting in the same share. Then the other is deposited to our seperate accounts for our own fun stuff....
60820243 
mrspuzzetti
this just came up yesterday. he wants joint. i want seperate and joint. i'm still going to keep mine. he wants me to deposit into a joint. I think we'll do both!
60187927 
Nyxks
We have seprate accounts, and will for some time - once our pre-marriage debt are covered by both of us, then we'll go for a join account, but till then its seprate.
59835959 
cerrida
We have separate accounts and it works wonderfully for us. Part of the reason is because we both have direct deposit. My husband was also helping out some bills before we got married, so we just kept that arrangement. For anything fun, we usually end up alternating on who will pay. So far, we haven't had any fights about money.
59709694 
lrmrtn
We have a joint account for household expenses (mortgage, food, utilities) that we each deposit the same amount into each month, even though we have different salaries. We have separate accounts for the remainder of our salaries for separate expenses (student loans, car payments, discretionary spending). We have also each committed to depositing any extra money we have at the end of each month to a joint savings account for vacations, home improvements, etc. It's worked out well because we don't have to worry about splitting bills down the middle and I don't have to account for every individual purchase I make, like clothes or going out with my friends and he doesn't have to do that either.
59586413 
Kaiene
We have joint and separate accounts. The joint is only for joint expenses such as rent, groceries and utilities. Then we each have our own accounts to spend however we want. It works out great and we've had no money arguments!
59569678 
d_gutierrez
We are still undecided about this. I would prefer a joint acct; however my groom to be is leaning towards the separate...