Splitting Expenses

roseofdeborah · December 2011

So I had read some threads a few days ago with all the girls who were currently living with their FI, and I have questions! My FI and I moved in this month to allow us to save for the wedding (but he was basically living with me before anyways just paying his own rent elsewhere). Now that we have one place we are waiting till we get married to put together our checking accounts. Until then, what have your experiences been with how to split up the bills? Since I'm the one that was paying crazy expensive rent before, technically I could easily pay for everything myself now since everything is in my name, but I don't want to have all this stuff I'm paying for and him just be only paying his few bills. Advice?

ceglare4 · December 2011

You could split everything up right down the middle if you wanted to. Rent, bills, etc. Maybe one person pays everything one month, and then switch the next. Personally though, I don't really see the point in splitting things up right now. If you are able to cover all the expenses, why not continue to do so, and he can save the money in his account? In 6 months or so it'll all be the same money anyway, so why does it matter now if you pay 75% and he pays 25%, or you pay 100% and he pays nothing? Either you'll both be saving a little money now, or he is saving a lot and you're saving a little. In the end, the result is the same!

penny12986 · December 2011

It depends on your preferences and how you and your FI want to handle it. One couples solution may not necessarily work for everyone. In my experience, there is usually one person in the relationship who is more comfortable with paying the bills, managing the finances, etc. In my relationship, that person is me. It also depends on how you 2 plan on maintaining your finances after you are married.

We split the expenses 50/50, FI writes me a check for his half and we pay bills out of my account. After we get married, we will continue this because his work only allows him to direct deposit his paycheck into 1 account which he will put into his personal checking.

With regards to other small expenses like eating out, groceries and gasoline, we go back and forth and sometimes I will pick up the cost and other times he will.

We like splitting things evenly because sometimes when the other person isn't pulling their weight, we have seen other couples who start to resent the person who doesn't step up. In the event of unemployment or a serious illness, we would totally adjust our strategy though.

YuMMMy721 · December 2011

We are a lot like Penny, but for different reasons. He moved into my house (I had purchased it before we got together) and everything is in my name, so he pays me "rent". Bassically every 6 months we have looked at the bills and figured out what the average is per month for the ones that change (electriicty, heat, etc) and then he pays me a monthly rent check on the first, then 6 months later we change the value again for if electricity/heat/water etc went up or down. It works out well for us. We are both able to budget as we know what the monthly in/out will be and then we can go from there. Then for splitting things we go by whoevers idea it was pays. If I want to go out to eat, I pay, if he wants to go to the movies he pays, it works out well for us.

Good luck!

LADY324 · December 2011

Right now currently FI pays our mortgage and all of our utility bills on the 15th of each month. So he adds everything up divides it by 2 and I write him a check. We had opened up a joint checking which we each put $100 into each paycheck so $400 a month for groceries.

It was becoming a pain in the as* so we are now just going joint with everything.

michelle11988 · December 2011

We basically split everything right down the middle. I pay a bit less each month for rent because he makes a lot more than me. FI has one card to use for going out to eat, groceries, etc that we each pay half of every month. It works and doesn't allowing for fights since we both have money to do other things with for our own interests.

roseofdeborah · December 2011

So most people tend to split it. I think he'll be ok with this idea. He wants to be the one in charge of money spending which is why I feel its more appropriate to split it then me paying for everything. Of course everyone's circumstances are different but its good to know what ideas there are.

mekiakoo · December 2011

We split up 50/50 most of the time since we earn about the same amount of money.

Rent is 50/50, he pays for the cable and electricy and I pay for the internet and renter's insurance. Sometimes it is just easier to have a person pay for something instead of splitting up every time, you know?

BeachLover2885 · December 2011

We split the rent 50/50 and take turns buying groceries. I tend to go more often to the store b/c I do the cooking, but FI pays the electric bill b/c he works from home, and we usually alternate for the cable/internet/phone every month. FI also pays for the renters insurance b/c it's connected to his car insurance. However, FI has picked up more of the bills lately b/c I took a pay cut this year since I'm only working part time, unfortunately.

Rebis58 · December 2011

We're not currently living together, but lived together up until recently (job offers in different cities led to temporary long-distance). When we were living together, we split all bills 50/50. I gave post-dated cheques to our landlord, and FI paid me "rent" every month. Utilities were in his name, so he paid that bill, and internet was in my name, so I paid that. We added or deducted costs of these other bills from the rent he owed me each month so that we only had to make one payment between us. For groceries, we split it when we shopped together or tried to take turns. Our finances were separate but once we got engaged we opened a joint savings account, where we put 10% of every cheque.

When we live together again, we'll be using our joint account to pay all of our joint bills, but maintaining our separate accounts, for a while at least.

colleenm18 · December 2011

We split everthing 50/50, with the exception of groceries. I pay all of the bills out of my account and FI writes me a check each month for his half. Since I lived in our apt first and he then moved in I can also afford all of the bills on my own, so most months the check that FI gives me get's put into a special account for wedding/house that i have set-up.

ginadog · December 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_splitting-expenses?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:c04c1be0-ba7d-42df-a4df-b6f90d572ebbPost:64fbb422-7d96-43e7-962e-697daf743c03">Splitting Expenses</a>:
[QUOTE]So I had read some threads a few days ago with all the girls who were currently living with their FI, and I have questions! My FI and I moved in this month to allow us to save for the wedding (but he was basically living with me before anyways just paying his own rent elsewhere). Now that we have one place we are waiting till we get married to put together our checking accounts. Until then, what have your experiences been with how to split up the bills? Since I'm the one that was paying crazy expensive rent before, technically I could easily pay for everything myself now since everything is in my name, but I don't want to have all this stuff I'm paying for and him just be only paying his few bills. Advice?
Posted by roseofdeborah[/QUOTE]

If you want to split it (without merging everything), I'd go for a proportional split - that is if your incomes are not similar.

If you make 70% of the total income and he makes 30% of the total income, then divide it up like that for "joint/household/shared" bills. ie, you share food, rent, heating, cable, wedding, etc. If you have your own bills, then maybe just pay your own cell and car, etc.

Then whatever that total is - let's say $1000 for simplicity - then he owes $300 or 30% of the bills (either by being responsible for those bills or just writing you a check) and you take over 70% of the bills or $700.

Elinetrouwt · December 2011

We opened a joint account, and still have our own seperate accounts. Each month, we both put an amount equal to the rent on the joint account. From that, we pay the rent and other expenses. We also use to pay for smaller wedding expenses.

Erinkathleen84 · December 2011

He pays more of the mortgage then me because he makes a lot more money. But we split all of the other bills 50/50. I will pay one month and then he pays the next. I always buy the groceries and he usually picks up the check if we go out to eat. I usually always pay for vacations (flights, hotels) and he pays for activities / food while we are there.

It works well for us and we never fight about money.

lilpanda · January 2012

We have it split by bills. I pay internet/phone/water and half of the rent. FI pays half rent and electric (internet and water bill combined usually amount to around the same as electric bill). After that we pay our own cell phones. Groceries depends and the rest is a if you want you pay basis.

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