Joint Finances

Today I thought I'd share our plan for combining our finances come September. This is new to us, so there will probably be some tweaking as time goes on. But for now, we plan to open a joint checking account for our household expenses. These include rent, utilities, groceries, charitable donations, eating out together, and a cushion for unexpected expenses each month. This represents 41%* of our total income.

Then, we will each have a separate checking account for our own money. We will each get a set amount and out of this we will pay for gas, cell phones, and our own fun money. This would include socializing without the other person, stopping for coffee or fast food on our own, and for me it includes boot camp and getting my hair done. Because I have those two expenses, I am getting an extra hundred dollars a month. Which isn't exactly fair, but he supported it completely. These accounts represent 18% of our income.

We also need to save each month because I don't get a paycheck in August. This represents 6% of our monthly income.

This leaves us with an about $2,000 per month toward the student loans. This represents 33% of our income going to debt repayment each month!

I definitely gave a higher amount for groceries and eating out for the first month. I'm hoping we can adjust our habits and have some left over to put toward savings or debt at the end of the month, but I wanted to be generous the first month we are getting used to this, and go from there.

So, that's our plan! How do you and your spouse share finances? Any advice for us as we start this adventure together?

*All percentages are approximate. I don't think it adds up to 100% because I rounded things.