This weeks post on designing the budget is important. When we watch such shows as Til Debt Do Us Part or Divorce Court I notice 3 things- Only one person takes care of the finances
- They don’t use a budget or think they do
- There is no organization
When we got married Mrs. CBB and I were already on the same page when it came to finances and we still are today. There’s no surprise that most marriages end in divorce court because of money matters. Family finances take trust and personal responsibility along with teamwork. You need to set your financial goals together and work on achieving them together.
When it comes to the budget we share the tasks involved such as
- adding shops to the budget sheet
- making the shopping lists and matching coupons
- paying the bills
- filing the bills
- updating the budget sheet weekly,monthly
- tracking our investments- we both like to do this together
- tracking our accounts- we have separate accounts a the moment
It’s important and I “stress” that if you are in a relationship and your money is combined you best both be understanding how you are spending it. You won’t survive when only one person knows what’s going on. Why should the headache be put on one person?
Although we have separate accounts we also have a joint account which has all of our savings and line of credit. I had to open my account to gain credit history in Canada. Separate accounts can make money management less efficient so we are leaning towards a complete joint account but are simply being lazy. A joint account is much easier and forces each other to be financially responsible since the other one will see.
There’s nothing to hide when it comes to a joint account and so be it, you’re married. There shouldn’t be any of this “I make more money” or “you pay a percentage of this”, that’s silly.
Now we know who does what and when as we have wrote out a “Financial Update Schedule”. This is a shared schedule to make sure everything gets done through the month. It’s important you both take part in this process with no excuses. Don’t dump it on the other person with an excuse every month!
For the most part we sit down twice a month together and go over everything.
Why is it important to have a schedule?
It’s important for 2 reasons
- To make sure everything gets paid on time and is correct
- So you both know what is going on with your finances and there are no surprises
If one of you died tomorrow and only one of you took care of the finances the other would have no idea where to begin. This could make for a very stressful situation on top of the loss of a significant other.
Ask yourself these 2 questions
- Do you know where all the important documents are kept and what they are?
- Do you know where all the money goes in the budget?
I leave you today in hopes you will work together as a couple to take charge and make a commitment, not only to your relationship but to your finances!
If you are single, well you’re doing all the work so there is no loss when it comes to who knows what and who does what! You’ve got it all for yourself!
Cheers
Next in the How We Designed our Budget Series: Balancing the Budget-How it’s done!
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Jen says
I completely agree with your logic about married couples having a joint account. My husband and I have a joint account where all money owing to us goes into. We also each have an individual accounts for our ‘allowances’. It is amazing to us that so many married couples we know have separate accounts – she looks after this and he looks after that. I just don’t get it. Like you said it’s inefficient and it doesn’t promote trust in a relationship. We also have learned to use our financial strengths. I manage our monthly budget while my spouse is more into our long term investments, at the same time keeping each other in the loop regularly.
Canadianbudgetbinder says
Sounds like you both know where you are at and where you would like to be. A solid plan doesn’t always work out so being flexible and ready for action is important. Good for you!
mycanuckbuck says
Thanks Mr. CBB for explaining about the commenting, and I’ll let you know how things go with Mr. Canuck Buck!
Canadianbudgetbinder says
Sounds good! Cheers Mr.CBB
denlyn3 says
Great information. We use online banking to pay our bills. Being that I pay them each month, if I should no longer be here my wife can go online and see our bill paying history and at least know what to expect.
Canadianbudgetbinder says
Better hope you leave her the passwords! 😉 Mr.CBB
denlyn3 says
We have shared each others passwords for all accounts we have so we are not in the dark. We have always worked the finances as a team.
Canadianbudgetbinder says
Good For You! I’ve had to make a master password list for every bill account we have. It starts getting overwhelming when you cannot use the same password because of different password requirements. Glad to hear you work as a team, not many can say this! Cheers mate. Mr.CBB
mycanuckbuck says
Have you changed your comment set up? I’ve tried leaving comments twice and they get erased. It’s a bit of a pain to have to “log in” to my wordpress blog just to leave one. Great points and I agree – I’m trying to get my husband more on board with investments etc instead of just me doing it.
Canadianbudgetbinder says
No I have not changed my comment set up at all. I always have to sign in to wordpress to leave comments on other wordpress blogs. I hope that helps a bit. I hope you can get your husband on board as it’s so important for him to know what’s going on. You’re not alone in this world however the more we encourage and talk about finances maybe they will take an interest. Let me know how it goes! Mr.CBB