joint accounts?
Discussion
i'm making my first step towards real commitment this month... my girlfriend and i are getting a joint account.
We live together at the moment (rented) although i still have my own place as well. So i'm going to get shot of the old place, and half her outgoings in an attempt to get ready for a big move early next year to somewhere we will both own together. We've been together 7 years so it's not like we're new to each other or anything.
So where is best to get our joint account from? it's just for splitting bills and each paying "our share" in to, as well as a little on the side to get some money together for fees etc when we do move.
I'm thinking it'd be best to have an account with the place we would intend on getting our mortgage? Maybe not.
What say you? What should i be looking for here? I'm guessing they are all much of a muchness, but maybe some accounts don't let people who aren't married have a joint account?
We live together at the moment (rented) although i still have my own place as well. So i'm going to get shot of the old place, and half her outgoings in an attempt to get ready for a big move early next year to somewhere we will both own together. We've been together 7 years so it's not like we're new to each other or anything.
So where is best to get our joint account from? it's just for splitting bills and each paying "our share" in to, as well as a little on the side to get some money together for fees etc when we do move.
I'm thinking it'd be best to have an account with the place we would intend on getting our mortgage? Maybe not.
What say you? What should i be looking for here? I'm guessing they are all much of a muchness, but maybe some accounts don't let people who aren't married have a joint account?
haha, no, if anything i am the rogue spender.
It's basically going to be an account where we each pay a half of £X + £100 in each month. We could even cut up the bank cards and forget about the account to be honest. We will each have our own accounts with whatever we earn getting paid in to that, we just transfer our portion on pay day.
It's a purely mechanical exercise, and we are not talking about a huge amount of money in the grand scheme of things.
It's basically going to be an account where we each pay a half of £X + £100 in each month. We could even cut up the bank cards and forget about the account to be honest. We will each have our own accounts with whatever we earn getting paid in to that, we just transfer our portion on pay day.
It's a purely mechanical exercise, and we are not talking about a huge amount of money in the grand scheme of things.
Edited by AMCDan on Wednesday 27th August 08:39
Agreed, don't do it ! The amount of tat my wife comes home with...and then at the end of the month she complains that shes overdrawn and can't live on whats shes got.
Giving her access to more cash is not going to help, the loft is going to collapse under the weight of her crappy purchases!
Giving her access to more cash is not going to help, the loft is going to collapse under the weight of her crappy purchases!
From having seen it numerous times when it goes wrong, I would recommend just having it as a bills account and not as a full blown account where you put all your salary, as if you do break up and there is a dispute the money is frozen until a resolution is met (in most cases)
As for which bank, just wander down the high street and see who has the nicest/ most helpful staff. Although I did this recently with Barclays and they were a shower of sh*t. Really slow to do anything, and just very un-accomodating, this was from their "Premier" service aswell!
Have always had good experiences with HSBC, they may not pay the best rates, they may not have the best products but their business systems are excellent and you will generally get what you want, quickly with minimal fuss.
HTH
As for which bank, just wander down the high street and see who has the nicest/ most helpful staff. Although I did this recently with Barclays and they were a shower of sh*t. Really slow to do anything, and just very un-accomodating, this was from their "Premier" service aswell!
Have always had good experiences with HSBC, they may not pay the best rates, they may not have the best products but their business systems are excellent and you will generally get what you want, quickly with minimal fuss.
HTH
We've got a purely bills account that we both transfer the same amount into each month - works really well but does have the side effect of highlighting how much of my monthly spending is just going on booze and fuel! since the account is pretty much emptied at the end of each month a simple current account with any high street bank will work fine.
yes... i can imagine it will highlight some irregularities in my spending. I spent about 40% of my wage last month on taking the missus out for dinner!!! then again, she probably spent about 30% feeding both of us the rest of the time.
My only concern with the joint account was:
a) if we choose to pay in less than £1k a month (i heard some joint accounts want to see two salaries going in?)
b) does it matter that we are not married?
My only concern with the joint account was:
a) if we choose to pay in less than £1k a month (i heard some joint accounts want to see two salaries going in?)
b) does it matter that we are not married?
m4tt said:
From having seen it numerous times when it goes wrong, I would recommend just having it as a bills account and not as a full blown account where you put all your salary, as if you do break up and there is a dispute the money is frozen until a resolution is met (in most cases)
As for which bank, just wander down the high street and see who has the nicest/ most helpful staff. Although I did this recently with Barclays and they were a shower of sh*t. Really slow to do anything, and just very un-accomodating, this was from their "Premier" service aswell!
Have always had good experiences with HSBC, they may not pay the best rates, they may not have the best products but their business systems are excellent and you will generally get what you want, quickly with minimal fuss.HTH
+1 although I would go with First Direct who are part of HSBC, 24/7, 365 days of the year banking. As for which bank, just wander down the high street and see who has the nicest/ most helpful staff. Although I did this recently with Barclays and they were a shower of sh*t. Really slow to do anything, and just very un-accomodating, this was from their "Premier" service aswell!
Have always had good experiences with HSBC, they may not pay the best rates, they may not have the best products but their business systems are excellent and you will generally get what you want, quickly with minimal fuss.HTH
OP poses a good question.
With ex always had separate money and didn't know what the f
k was going on with hers.
Ended up with her forging a v large cheque, like almost £20k, from my savings to pay credit card bill. This was back in the nineties during the housing slump and £38k would have bought our first house outright. That really hurt !
Would never do separate money again.
With joint account both parties can see what is going on and let's face it if you don't support her spending habits then that is a fundamental incompatability between the two of you. Plastering over the cracks by having separate money won't stop you from rucking about it !
Let's face it if she does take the piss you can just pay the money into another account and remove your name from the previoulsy joint account. You might end up with some short term liabilities, but better to find out you're with a cash grabber than get fked over much later and at much higher impact.
With ex always had separate money and didn't know what the f
k was going on with hers.Ended up with her forging a v large cheque, like almost £20k, from my savings to pay credit card bill. This was back in the nineties during the housing slump and £38k would have bought our first house outright. That really hurt !
Would never do separate money again.
With joint account both parties can see what is going on and let's face it if you don't support her spending habits then that is a fundamental incompatability between the two of you. Plastering over the cracks by having separate money won't stop you from rucking about it !
Let's face it if she does take the piss you can just pay the money into another account and remove your name from the previoulsy joint account. You might end up with some short term liabilities, but better to find out you're with a cash grabber than get f
ked over much later and at much higher impact.Unfortunately my experience with the high street banks hasn't been great. I would just see who seems the most competent at your local branch.
We pay in enough via standing order each month for:
bills
groceries
going out (when we go out together)
Also when we go on holiday we fund it via the joint account.
It saves a lot of hassle, no need to do a spreadsheet to work out who's paid what, when.
We pay in enough via standing order each month for:
bills
groceries
going out (when we go out together)
Also when we go on holiday we fund it via the joint account.
It saves a lot of hassle, no need to do a spreadsheet to work out who's paid what, when.
My OH and I both happened to bank at the same place, so we set up a joint account there. Easy to manage as each of us can see our own account and the joint account on online banking.
Have three accounts between you:
1. Your current account. Salary in, your joint account contribution out.
2. Her current account. Salary in, her joint account contribution out.
3. Joint account. Each contribution in, shared bills out.
Anything which is your bill or her bill come from your own accounts (1&2) anything joint comes out of joint account. Simple. If the joint account runs low then both put £x more in at the same time.
I wouldn't pay my salary into a joint account. No way hosé!
In respect of your other questions:
- It does not matter if you pay in under £1k per month (i.e. doesn't need two salaries going in.)
- It does not matter if you are married (i.e. could be two business partners)
Have three accounts between you:
1. Your current account. Salary in, your joint account contribution out.
2. Her current account. Salary in, her joint account contribution out.
3. Joint account. Each contribution in, shared bills out.
Anything which is your bill or her bill come from your own accounts (1&2) anything joint comes out of joint account. Simple. If the joint account runs low then both put £x more in at the same time.
I wouldn't pay my salary into a joint account. No way hosé!
In respect of your other questions:
- It does not matter if you pay in under £1k per month (i.e. doesn't need two salaries going in.)
- It does not matter if you are married (i.e. could be two business partners)
Another point of view to counterbalance the naysayers. I share a joint account with the GF into which we both pay our full salary. We used the do the whole own account for salary, joint for bills thing but it was a PITA. Sharing a joint account for all money has worked out really well and is a real positive step commitment wise. As long as you trust her (and I'm guessing after 7 years you do) I say go for it.
We, like many of the other posters set up the same 3 account system.
One in each name, and a joint. Wages into your own named accounts, and then a joint account, where a contribution goes in, and costs come out.
It was set up with intelligent Finance( www.if.com ) for various reasons, one of them being that my morgate is offset by my savings. They are a very good bank to deal with, UK call centres etc, and very easy to work with online. The only disadvantage is that they don't have a high street bank, so its difficult to get a Bankers Draft.
One in each name, and a joint. Wages into your own named accounts, and then a joint account, where a contribution goes in, and costs come out.
It was set up with intelligent Finance( www.if.com ) for various reasons, one of them being that my morgate is offset by my savings. They are a very good bank to deal with, UK call centres etc, and very easy to work with online. The only disadvantage is that they don't have a high street bank, so its difficult to get a Bankers Draft.
It's fixable... said:
Let's face it if she does take the piss you can just pay the money into another account and remove your name from the previoulsy joint account. You might end up with some short term liabilities, but better to find out you're with a cash grabber than get fked over much later and at much higher impact.
Both parties need to agree to removing someone from the account. Usually the account will be closed and a new sole account opened. This is where the hassles start, I have seen it many times, not a nice situation.ked over much later and at much higher impact.Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff