Happy Thursday, friends! Do long weekends throw anyone else for a loop? The Monday off from work lulls Johnny and me away into the cozy comfort of weekend living. It’s cruel, in a way. And now that it’s Thursday, we’ve finally adjusted to non-weekend living — just in time for another weekend… okay, I guess long weekends do have their perks.
If you’re looking for some extra personal finance reading (who isn’t??), check out our latest articles on DailyFinance:
- 5 Situations When It’s Smart to Splurge
- 4 Things Your Teen Needs to Know About Debt
- Is a Joint Bank Account the Secret to a Happy Marriage?
Also, for any of you who have ever made money by working from home and haven’t already let us know, we want to hear all about it. Just fill out this easy peasy form. We can’t wait to share all of the different responses and compile a list of real ways SAHM/Ds have made green. So help us help you… and us. Thanks!
Hope everyone’s having a great week. TGI(almost)F!
8 Comments
Whoa! It’s scary over there at Daily Finance! Mean comments! I’m not in the “joint bank accounts are best” camp. I think it’s fine, but I don’t see it as the best answer for everyone. My husband and I have joint savings, but because he’s self-employed (and refuses to get a separate business bank account) it’s too confusing for us to have joint checking accounts. He sometimes suddenly spends a couple thousand dollars on business expenses and then sometimes doesn’t make any money for a full month. The inconsistency is so confusing and anxiety provoking for me that it works better for us to have separate checking accounts so that I don’t have money randomly disappearing from our accounts!
I agree that joint accounts aren’t for everyone. It sounds like you and the hubs have a solution that works best for you guys!
The DailyFinance comments were kind of startling at first, but now it’s kind of just run of the mill, haha. I just let Johnny read them :).
I love seeing your guys’ articles on daily finance.
Thanks, Jennifer!
Wow, quality comments there! One gem :
“iTS GREAT WHEN THE NEW JOINT ACCOUNT PAYS OFF HER STUDENT LOAN, WHEN THEY HAVE DIFFERENT AMOUNT SALARIES BUT SAME SPENDING LIMITS.”
Wow… They just… don’t get it, do they? Other than showing his/her intellectual capacity (hitting the caps lock to write a message requires some advanced skills), they also missed the point on this. What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is yours. Including previous debt.
Would be interesting to hear your views on when one spouse is financially irresponsible, which seems to be the biggest complaint on the article.
For our household, as I’ve mentioned before, we work very well on a joint account. Now that I’ve jumped on the hypersaving bandwagon, all I had to do was show my husband how long until we could retire, and he was on board like a shot.
I’m guessing the scenario where a spouse is a spendthrift, either they have other psychological issues (Spending to make themselves feel better/confident), or they haven’t seen the value of saving money and getting it to work for you?
Having a separate bank account from your spouse – looking at it in a different way – tells them you don’t trust them, or you want to keep your money “for yourself”. Great way to handle a marriage!
To be fair, there are good reasons for a separate *business* account, agree with Becky that a separate account for her is essential in this situation. I would be super anxious too!
Yes, definitely some interesting comments on DailyFinance. I quit reading them after the first couple of weeks of writing for them :).
I think there are times that a joint account isn’t the best solution, like if a spouse can’t be trusted with your money. But then there are much bigger problems in that marriage, which I didn’t want to get into in that article. Also, two divorced people getting remarried, or getting married at an older age… both situations where a joint account might not always be best. But, if possible, I think joint banking is the way to go.
And I loved your take on separate accounts… I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s very true!
Glad you guys are working the joint bank account well, Linda! I love hearing about other couples who it works for, too!
Here’s another reason to have separate accounts. When we first married we had a joint account. Then the children came along. There was always enough money to pay the bills, and we never lacked anything we needed (usually just!). BUT every month I got depressed as we paid the bills, and my husband couldn’t stand being nickled and dimed to death over all the small expenditures required to finance their school requirements, music lessons, etc., etc, etc. We set up a separate account for me to use to run the house, and peace reigned. This year we will celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary – free of debt and with adequate retirement savings. P.S It may help to think of your budget as a spending plan.
Thanks for sharing, Barbra! I actually really love your idea of having an account for running the house. I could see Johnny and me setting up a budget category at some point that’s more flexible for those kinds of expenses once we have more kids.
If it helps to avoid marital strain, it’s the way to go! Congrats on being married 49 years… you two are an anomaly these days. So awesome. Thanks for sharing!