by Cameron Chapman

Created on: February 23, 2007   Last Updated: March 27, 2007

My husband and I have had a joint bank account since well before we were married (right after we moved in together, although we did keep separate savings accounts for a few months after that). We don't have issues with "my money" and "his money". The money we earn is OUR money. All of our bills get paid from the same account. We also have a joint savings account, and all of our savings go into that account. We both had separate bank accounts prior to establishing our joint account, and had no problem transferring to the balances to the joint account.

I think that sharing the money helps to relieve a lot of tension. I know exactly what he's spending money on and he knows exactly what I'm spending money on. We each have our own debit cards (we rarely ever use checks), and keep track of our balance online. Before either of us makes a major purchase, we run it by the other person, to make sure that we have enough in the account.

This has worked very smoothly for us for about six years now (we've been married less than a year).

I think that if a couple is having issues about keeping separate bank accounts, it's not a good sign. If one is worried about the "what ifs" (what if he leaves me, what if things don't work out, etc. etc.), then there are deeper issues in the relationship. I can understand keeping separate savings accounts, so that each partner can save for things that they may want to do that the other partner has little or no interest in (buying sporting goods, etc.), to ease confusion. We have no problem just earmarking money in accounts for things I want to do, things he wants to do, and things we both want to do.

Having a joint account is just easier. There are fewer things to keep track of, only one check book, one account to remember the balance of, and one bank to deal with. It's a completely open system, and only works if you really have trust in your partner and have the same ideas about money.

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