Fairest way to split bills with the wife?
Discussion
After a bit of advice on this subject. Previously our earnings have been within a two or three thousand pounds of each other and everything was just pretty much split down the middle, but from next month I will earn £12,000 more than her per year, which is pretty significant.
The way I see that if I earn quite a bit more money then I should pay a substantial amount more than my wife does. I was thinking that I could work it so we both have the same disposable income each month. I’ll still be able to put away £300-£400 a month in savings (I don’t count savings as disposable income) and our disposable would be £300 each, which is plenty after the mortgage, household car and personal bills are taken care of.
My wife seems to think I will soon resent paying so much when she pays a considerably smaller amount in comparison.. but I feel it’s the fairest way?
The way I see that if I earn quite a bit more money then I should pay a substantial amount more than my wife does. I was thinking that I could work it so we both have the same disposable income each month. I’ll still be able to put away £300-£400 a month in savings (I don’t count savings as disposable income) and our disposable would be £300 each, which is plenty after the mortgage, household car and personal bills are taken care of.
My wife seems to think I will soon resent paying so much when she pays a considerably smaller amount in comparison.. but I feel it’s the fairest way?
snake_oil said:
You have separate finances with your wife? Weird.
All of our money just goes into a pot.
We have a joint account for all household bills and the mortgage- we get paid into our separate current accounts and we also have separate savings accounts (however I’d like to combine them)All of our money just goes into a pot.
snake_oil said:
You have separate finances with your wife? Weird.
All of our money just goes into a pot.
Absolutely not weird! All of our money just goes into a pot.
My wife and I have a Joint Account that we each pay into to cover the bills, holidays etc. However, the rest of our respective incomes remains in our own Bank Accounts. It has always been thus and never the slightest problem. She can decide what she does with her money, likewise, I do the same.
She bought an electric scooter last week. She buys new clothes every month. What business is it of mine to question what she does with all her income? Likewise, I bought a new lens for my camera, didn't need to tell her the cost. We share with each other what we buy out of interest, nothing more.
We absolutely trust one another. We do not need to debate every penny and keep a watchful eye on where the money goes - we trust that we will attain our mutual goals without making unwise individual purchasing decisions that could jeopardise them.
Neither of us has any debt and when we did have mortgages, car loans etc, we worked jointly to pay them off all the while retaining our financial independence.
We have separate bank accounts, but when I was trucking 44 tonners around Europe, and after that driving a Black Cab, I was pulling down bundles more than her.
Consequently, I always paid every bill there was, mortgage, rates, (now Community Charge), insurances, phone bill, gas, electricity, water, I paid the VED, insurance, servicing on any car that she had, we’d have good holidays, U.S., Caymans, Tahiti, Thailand, Australia etc., all down to me, she picked up the tab for supermarket shopping, and that’s it.
I retired in 2012, and we still do it the same way, except now I’m living off one pension that I paid into privately, and the State Pension, plus whatever I’d salted away.
We’ve had to pull our horns in a tad with holidays, but we still have a couple of weeks in Florida or Texas, plus a week somewhere civilised, like Murcia, Spain, or Coimbra. Portugal.
Our marriage still works on a points system, she points at, and I’ll buy it for her.
Consequently, I always paid every bill there was, mortgage, rates, (now Community Charge), insurances, phone bill, gas, electricity, water, I paid the VED, insurance, servicing on any car that she had, we’d have good holidays, U.S., Caymans, Tahiti, Thailand, Australia etc., all down to me, she picked up the tab for supermarket shopping, and that’s it.
I retired in 2012, and we still do it the same way, except now I’m living off one pension that I paid into privately, and the State Pension, plus whatever I’d salted away.
We’ve had to pull our horns in a tad with holidays, but we still have a couple of weeks in Florida or Texas, plus a week somewhere civilised, like Murcia, Spain, or Coimbra. Portugal.
Our marriage still works on a points system, she points at, and I’ll buy it for her.
Sarnie said:
So said:
Not weird. Not in the slightest.
Correct.........I transact mortgages for hundreds of couples each year and I would say well below 10% have one bank account that both salaries get paid into and they spend out of.......joshleb said:
Dump her, no more bill splitting!
Me and my missus use an app called splitwise, allows you to add everything you've bought and keeps tabs on who owes how much.
Fair enough.Me and my missus use an app called splitwise, allows you to add everything you've bought and keeps tabs on who owes how much.
joshleb said:
Even better when you bring more people into it across different groups, as it records how much individual people owe you.
Weird 
They need to offer that as in-car app on your Volvo/Skoda 
So said:
snake_oil said:
You have separate finances with your wife? Weird.
Not weird. Not in the slightest.TwigtheWonderkid said:
Weird to me. All money that comes into the house is ours. Earned, found, won, inherited, makes no odds. We both have a similar attitude to money. If you haven't, why did you marry someone who thinks differently about such an important issue???
Do you both have similar levels of pressure, working hours, commuting distances and so on? Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff