Yours, mine, ours.
The Translation Bureau is a compilation team that focuses on technology, business, workplace, life and other fields, focusing on foreign new technologies, new ideas, and new trends.
Editor’s note: How to deal with the finances between husband and wife? Want to achieve financial integration, but also want to achieve financial independence? A practical solution is to develop a budget and future plans together, open a joint account to deposit money for common expenses, while maintaining relative independence, and choose the appropriate way to set aside some income for personal consumption. This will enable you to take ownership of your own expenses while at the same time taking ownership of your own expenses. This article was translated from Medium, the original title is “How Do My Partner and I Merge Our Finances, While Keeping Our Autonomy?”, I hope to inspire you.
Dear joint account,
I have been with my lover for almost six years, and we always divide the money very clearly. We share the rent and living expenses equally, and I pay for student loans, car loans, credit card bills, and so on. But even if we don’t merge accounts, we are now financially interdependent, and I think we should budget together. When the other party is short of money, we always take the initiative to help, we also share most of the entertainment consumption.
We don’t have much income. I think it’s time to start saving money. I should save money on entertainment and entertainment, but I don’t want to tell the other party what to do in the economics. Although I feel that it is a joke to stay economically independent at this stage, I don’t know how to make a change. Is there a good way to help us achieve financial consolidation, but also to give us some autonomy?
This is a very annoying question for couples in your situation: Should we stay financially independent or share everything with each other? The short answer is that both are taken care of. You can have a common account and also keep your own personal expense account.
You may have done this to some extent, let’s take a look at a more detailed answer to this question – how to establish a common financial relationship, how to open it, and how to manage this account. We discussed these before, but what you are looking for is a financial plan called “Your, Mine, Us”. Open a joint check and savings account where both parties regularly deposit money. Then use it to pay for common consumption, such as rent and daily necessities, and to save money for common goals, like travel and home purchases. In addition to these joint accounts, you can still keep your own personal spending accounts.
What you are looking for is a name called “Your, mine,Our ” financial plan.
If your other half wants to have a meal with his colleagues, or if you want to buy new sneakers, you can pay with your personal account; if you go to the bar together or want to buy a new sofa for your apartment , pay with the joint account. This is a perfect way to merge and give you a degree of financial autonomy.
If you feel that you need to open too many accounts, you can also prepare a pocket money for your own expenses. You will use a joint account to pay for personal expenses, but each person has a fixed amount (that is, your pocket money), within which you can spend as much as you like. In this way, you don’t have to worry about telling your lover how to manage money – he can spend pocket money on anything he likes, and you can.
Ideally, you two each in a shared account Depositing half of the money can make things very simple. But if there is a huge income gap between the two sides, a different ratio can be negotiated. For example, you are an average worker earning $30,000 a year, and your partner is a lawyer who earns $100,000 a year. Depending on the cost, you might choose a ratio of 7:3. Perhaps, as a high-income group, your partner wants to move to a bigger room, but rent is hard for you. At this time, you must agree on what is fair, which will depend on your personal needs and actual expenses. You must also agree to a budget for each discretionary expense, whether you have a personal account or a pocket money in a shared account.
So how do you calculate this math problem?
Every couple is different, so I can’t tell you the exact number or proportion. For reference, my husband and I have $300 a week for personal consumption, like clothes, haircuts, and books. We often go out to eat together, so we count the cost of eating on a common bill. You must find a pattern that works for you.
To do this, you need to make a list of three columns: yours, mine, and ours. Write down all the places that use the money, from medical insurance to student loans, from natural gas to daily necessities, and then sort them into their own categories.
If you have plans and goals together, you are not telling your partner how to manage your money.
Now let’s talk about saving. Do you both want to own your own house? How much are you willing to pay for this goal every month? How much do you want to save for retirement? Is there a plan for travel in the future? Put all of this on your list.
This may be the most important part of the overall plan. You said that you hope your partner can save some money and save more money, but it is very difficult to save money without finding a reason. Talk about your expectations of the future and give yourself a goal of working together, which will make it easier for you to discuss cutting other expenses.
Re-emphasize once, if your partner contributes to your common expenses and goals, you don’t need to tell him what to do. Moreover, if you work out plans and goals together, you are not telling your partner how to manage money.
Once you list everything, only the basics are left The budget is over. How much does it cost per month based on your current lifestyle? How much money can everyone spend on common consumption and savings goals based on your income and personal expenses? What expenses can you cut to achieve your plan? Once you’ve determined this, you have a budget. You can use a tool like Mint to track it. You need a budget, even a simple excel spreadsheet.
Remember, this plan will change as your relationship progresses. When my husband and I were just dating but didn’t live together, our shared budget was after the personal budget. But now that most of our consumption is shared, it is much easier to put all the bills and expenses together and give yourself a little pocket money every month.
In short, the answer to this question is to have both a common budget and a personal budget, so that you can take ownership of your own expenses while taking ownership of your own expenses. Think about it, this plan is exactly what a healthy relationship looks like – Share life with someone you love, but don’t forget to keep your identity.
Translator: Jane
Recommended reading: To be successful, more important than hard work is: sleep