a few of my mate-couples argue about money a lot
it took a while but me and Mrs V have a joint account which we pay salaries into and everything comes out of there. We keep back some for ourselves to buy random shit that we want, or to save for stuff, but generally everything is lumped in together.

Makes life a lot easier than taking it in turns to buy shopping, or splitting the bill afterwards, and we end up better off for some reason.

Not entirely sure why more people don't do it, other than they have a much bigger difference between their salaries....
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:49, 5 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

that's the best way
but your salaries seem a lot closer together than Labs + missus.

Luckily I've never been in a relationship so serious that money became an issue in any way, but more than a few of my friends have got really tangled up in various ways over it
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:51, Reply)

I think that's the key to it
I'm on a bit more, but my student loan payments and stuff are more, so I get maybe a couple of hundred more than her a month, but as they are close it's not an issue to combine it and half it
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:55, Reply)

I earn quite a bit more than Em does
Although after bills/rent/credit cards/loan/car etc, we end up with roughly the same in spending money. She will happily spend £100-300 a month on clothes and shoes, whereas I'm trying to save for things like holiday and tattoos.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:52, Reply)

that's the situation with my mates too I think

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:55, Reply)

It's not good, but not insurmountable
I'm just glad she doesn't have an overdraft or credit card, she'd make the same mistakes I did and rack up a hefty chunk of debt.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:57, Reply)

that is a mercy
I'm pretty glad that we don't argue about it. With any luck Mrs V's payrise should be coming soon too.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:58, Reply)

Sounds perfect mate
I'm happy for you :)
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:01, Reply)

I mainly want her hard work in getting chartered to be rewarded
extra cash (which will go entirely towards the wedding) will be a pelasant bonus
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:09, Reply)

I did that with The Idiot
it just meant he helped himself to cash to pay for Games Workshop crap and beers (and train fares to see his other girlfriends), while I desperately counted the pennies to try and stop us going overdrawn again.

Didn't help that he always lied about what he spent
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:53, Reply)

I think you were just unfortunate that he was a wanker

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:54, Reply)

well it does mean I won't trust anyone
every again.
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:54, Reply)

it's a real shame that there are tossers out there who will ruin things for people
:-(
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:56, Reply)

Should have shoved some elves up his arse.

(PsychoChomp, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:57, Reply)

he'd have liked that :(

( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:02, Reply)

Mark and I have a big difference in salaries
What we do is that each of us gets the salary in our single accounts, but we have a direct debit into our joint account for every month. Everything that is shared comes from there, but if he wants to spend £100 on a night out or buy shit loads of music, he pays for that himself.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:58, Reply)

same principle as how we operate
but I totally don't have enough money to blow £100 on a night out
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 14:59, Reply)

I don't either
That's why we decided to do it like that. We started just sharing, until I realised how much money we were spending. Now I pay my drinks, unless he wants to invite me, and he pays his.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:09, Reply)

yeah that's what Wiggy and I do
I told him it'll all pay off when I'm a millionairess.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:03, Reply)

I tell Mark the same
for when I win the lottery.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:09, Reply)

Me and Wiggy each pay an equal amount into the joint account
to cover all the bills and about £200 for food and householdy stuff.

My parents said they thought we should pay a percentage of the bills corresponding to how much we each earn but Wiggy and I both agreed that we'd rather pay equal amounts in bills and then the other stuff is like a treat.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:02, Reply)

I think bills and rent etc should always be a 50/50 split
Apart from in certain circumstances, like one of them's laid off work. I'm all about equality.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:04, Reply)

I'm an egalitarian Jew*
It makes things difficult sometimes.


*Not really, but try telling my flatmate this.
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:09, Reply)

I agree with you
I rather do that and have Mark to treat me from time to time than paying less and feeling like I'm living thanks to him.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:10, Reply)

And I'm more than happy to treat a girlfriend
So long as they don't come to expect it or demand it.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:14, Reply)

Of course not
That wouldn't be a treat. And I like to treat him too. In fact, I need to find out if I can buy tickets for Just a minute or The unbelivable truth.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:23, Reply)

Thankfully Em treats me too
She bought me a rather ace skull tshirt the other day :D
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 25 Aug 2010, 15:24, Reply)