All you need is love…and a plan for the bills.
When we decide to share our lives & finances, there are all kinds of complicated & messy decisions involved. There is no right or wrong way to divide up the responsibilities, but here are a few suggestions that may work for you.
Everything 50/50. Duh, right? All expenses right down the middle. This is a clean & simple solution if you & your partner are making roughly the same income. In this scenario, there could be a shared account for just bills / combined expenses. The rest of your income would be in an individual account for your personal expenses & discretionary spending.
Percentage. This is similar to the arrangement above, but instead of 50/50, your individual contribution to the shared expenses is based on your percent of the total income of the household. For example (using simple math because it's late and I had wine with dinner), if the total household income is $100K, with you contributing $65K, you would pay 65% of the expenses and they would pay 35%. This makes things equitable for couples with a gap in income. There is potential for the higher earner to develop some resentment here, so it's important to communicate & check in regularly.
Combine everything. There's a whole lot of trust and transparency required here folks, and it's not for everyone. All the money goes in one big pot and everything comes out of it. It's nice way to balance out fluctuations in income, but it also means that everyone is all up in your business about what you spent at Target. I think flowers are much more romantic when you don't have to see the bill, but maybe that's just me.
No matter if you choose a method above or something else entirely, honesty & communication are HUGE. You have to be on the same page about your financial values & realistic about your budget expectations. Furthermore, it's important to factor in emergencies & potential changes in income so you aren't totally thrown off if disaster strikes. How have you navigated this topic with your mate? What mistakes could others learn from, and what habits have made you successful?
