Hubby and I had a discussion last night on getting ourselves financially ready for a baby. At the moment we both put money in to a joint account each month for mortgage, bills and food. We are also saving jointly for a baby. What he wants to do now is pool our earnings so that our joint account is used for everything, so when baby comes along there will be no questioning which account to put baby purchases on, it will all go on the joint account.

I see the logic but I am fiercely independant and I would prefer to keep hold of my earnings and continue the way we are! I know that sounds silly as we are married and trying for a baby so we will be a proper little family, but I can't get my head around the idea of pooling our earnings.

Just being really nosy (don't say if you don't want to!) I just wondered how you and your OH manage your finances now that you are (or nearly are) a family and no longer two individuals?

Would love to hear your thoughts! xx

Hi hun,

We've always done the same as you, all bills come out the joint account but we have our own accounts too, we've been together 10 years, and had a baby 5 weeks ago.

Now, though I want us to combine our finances a lot more as we're already arguing over who's buying what for Zach (me mostly, and I'm on the lower income!)

also, I'm on a good maternity package with my employer but only until the end of May when I drop down to SMP, so I'm planning by then to be all set up with the joint account as our main account.

Hubby has agreed that it's the most sensible option but is dragging his heels a little, as I think he's worried he's going to lose his independance.

Why don't you keep your account and put a small amount in there every month, for 'girly things' might help with the independance thing!

Cas

eek i hate the thought of loosing my account! Hubby has been harping on about doing this but I really don;t want to. Although I will have to rely on him when we start our family hmmm

I have 2 accounts, one where tax credits and child benefits goes in and the other where my wages goes in. Hubby has a bank account too, and its his the bills come out off, so I just give him a set amount each month to cover half bills,morgage,food ect then what left over is mine and same with him. tax credit money is saved and spent on LO. we also have a joint savings account which we pay into and saving account for LO too, which any money she gets for birthday xmas ect goes in and we also pay into monthly and then once a year we take a lump sum from LO's and pay it into trust fund.

Thanks for the replies, it's just interesting to see what other couples do. I would never lose my own bank account, I think it's just getting used to the idea of more and more coming out of our joint account, rather than just the mortgage and bills. I'm sure when we have a LO of our own these decisions will come more naturally!

Hey, we do exactly what you dont want to do - and have done since day one of living together before we were married. It has always worked for us - you have to trust eachother not to spend the money in the joint a/c. But we are luckily both savers so dont spend alot :-)

xxxxx

Hi, we are the same as MrsKittyBoo, we have had a joint account from a few months of being together, it did my head in when going out, shopping and stuff halving everything so we just agreed to put our money together.

I actually earn double what hubbie does but after living on my own for 5 years when he came to live with me, his income made a huge difference so it has never bothered me having a joint account.

Weve saved for nearly 12 months to have a baby and will have £4000 to cover my maternity leave for 12 months.

Good luck xx

We've yet to have a sticky bfp, but we're the same as MKB and CC. We've been pooling our wages since we started living together and the only time I don't like it is at Christmas and Birthdays (I check the account online and unless DH buys with cash I can normally guess what he's bought me). For years I've earnt double what DH did, but we've role reversed recently and he earns more than I probably ever could, plus I'm about to become a f/t housewife due to relocation. I know what you mean about not having your independence, I probably think more about what I'm buying now, but DH tells me not to worry about it unless it's something expensive.

Good luck finding the right solution for you both!

PS. Another idea is to pool what you have and split what's left over 50/50.

hi...our salaries go into one account then we do leave in what we need for bills and transfer the following...
the same amount to each of our own current accs - that means we each have same amount to spend on cr*p each month...beer (well did!) ..clothes, haircuts etc...and we dont argue about who's gone out the most/spent the most....
the rest we transfer to savings (cover xmas/hols plus a diff acc for baby)...
what's left over we spend on general stuff (meals out / house/garden stuff)
works well for us as we know we have same amount each for ourselves plus all bills etc are covered! xx

That's a great idea bon79, I might suggest it to hubby. I think that could work really well. Thanks for the idea x

We have a joint account, and each have our own accounts. We were paying equal into the joint to cover mortgage and bills etc, but then when I was on maternity leave I dropped mine and hubby increased his as we were in a position to do so. Our beautiful boy was a happy surprise, so we didn't have time to save!
When I returned to work after 9 months mat leave, I resumed my saving of £100/month, but left my joint account contribution the same as was earning less part time.
Now however, our roles have reversed again, as hubby has had his working hours halved due to the "economic crisis", and I'm able to pick up more work as and when I want it. So now, I pay more than him, but still manage to save.
The benefits for my son go into my account, so anything he needs I buy. We also have a separate account for our son, in his name but with us named as trustees, as we were given a lot of money for him when he was born. If we need to buy "big" things, the money then comes out of that account, and if there's money left over from benefits after childcare, nappies, food etc, then that also goes into my sons account.
Good luck x

I didnt realise that so many people did the same thing. We had our own accounts for years then a joint a/c after living together for a while then when we got married we just transferred everything to the joint accoutn. We still have the separates but they have no money in them. We also have various savings a/c in personal names but on the understanding that it is joint money. A bit irrelevant as we are just about to plow all but £2k of our savings into our mortgage as cant see the point in keeping savings in the bank to earn 1% when we are paying 5% on the mortgage. It also means we save thousands on mortgage interest and pay it off in 5 years. yay!!! I know, i am very sad but things like that are exciting to me.