[Bedge]

Hi All,

Here's the story ....

I pay my phone bill, business expenses, do food shopping each week, pay rego & insurance, pay for most incidentals (stuff for our dog, medicines, gifts for family/friends ...) .. I can basically ‘pay’ for myself plus some extras. DH pays my car repayment and our family private health insurance.

Apart from that, he pays for the rest of the bills and rent. He also sometimes helps me out with big bills, like car repairs and such.

Of course I appreciate all of this, he works very hard and we live in a nice home and have nice things.

Although ... there is often an undertone ... and I am reminded, often ... that I should be paying for these things and contributing more .... and that “other couples ........” Which is fine ... once upon a time I could and did. Although circumstances have changed and I do the very best I can. On the other hand, I do the majority of the house work and cooking.

I was just wanting understand how it works in other people homes, when one earns much more than the other?

Added Info:

So .. don't know if I explained this part ...

I have my own small business ... so I have my business account where all my business income and expenses come in and out from. I have had my own biz since we met. As I claim my phone, car and everything on tax, it all just comes and goes from my biz account.

And we haven't really evolved since then!

I don't really draw a wage from my income ... as some weeks are good weeks and some are quite weeks ... so I just live from my business account ..

We have talked about when I become a SATM, and things will be different then which he knows.

It just seems ... now .. frustration that I'm not earning 'more' when I should be ... and semi joking comments about his money and that I should be paying this and that ...

I feel a bit .... frustrated .. for quite a few reasons you have all mentioned.

This post has been edited by Bedge: 05/01/2013, 05:26 PM

[Stellajoy]

We have quite a massive difference in incomes but it all goes into one bank account and is "our" money. All of our expenses are joint expenses, except maybe clothes which I spend more on. I do t think either of us have laid personal claim to money coming in since a year after we started dating.

[barrington]

Any money either of us earns goes into a joint bank account and all bills are paid from that account. There is absolutely no separation of different bills paid by different members of the family.

[GoodGollyMolly]

We pool our income do its "ours" not one persons or the others. This has worked for lots of stages of our relationship from me being a student and earning half what DH earns, to us earning about the same, to me earning twice as much.

We still have (an equal amount) of money that's put into our personal accounts every fortnight for each of us to spend how we please, but all the rest of the income goes into our joint mortgage offset account. We both agree that's our top priority for our income at the moment.

[Julie3Girls]

Both our incomes go into the savings offset account. Everything comes out of that.

There is NO my money or his money. There is NO "I pay for this, you for that"

We've done since the moment we got married. So at first, we were probably on equal incomes. Now, due to me changing to part time, I earn only a fraction of what he does. Thankfully, my husband appreciates that I bring a lot more to our family that just a financial amount, and it's never been an issue.

I could not live with what you are describiing.

[Eight.years]

We have family money rather than his money and my money. We discuss big purchases, (of stuff for just one of us or household stuff), before we go ahead with them.


Do sort this out before you have children so that expectations are very clear. It'd be awful to discover later, for example, that childcare is 'your' expense and suddenly your contribution to the household funds will be considered even lower than it is now.

[JECJEC]

That would be a red flag for me. I have earned and brought more into my relationship financially BUT we are building OUR future together.

Other people do it and I have seen one member of a family struggle whilst the other buys a boat, cigarettes and in the other example motorbikes.

[CoconutBaby]

Money in this house is our money. Has been this way since we purchased our house and combined our bank accounts. However, even prior to that we still never considered it as a "yours" or "mine" thing, despite having different accounts. We each worked, sure the pay was uneven, but we both contributed and generally whoever had their card out first would pay.

[michellew68]

I dont know why you would consider having a child in this relationship. You are making a family and home together.
I earn nothing as I am a SAHM. My DH supports me, our child, and my two sons!!

I would think VERY carefully about a future with someone like that.

[AllegraM]

I am a SAHM now but until then, we both worked fulltime and DH earned 8-10 times my wage.

From my wage and rental income I paid the mortgage and rates on my own pre-marriage rental property and paid the rego, service and running costs of my own car and paid my own phone bill. Everything else was pooled with DH and it has always been our money, without caveat.

DH would have been happy to assist or pay all of my bills but it was a matter of pride that I continue to pay them myself as I did as a single woman. Furthermore, despite having a wonderful marriage to DH, I think it is important to protect your assets and show that they were maintained independently by yourself in the event of a relationship breakdown. I paid off my own mortgage prior to becoming a SAHM and the repairs and rates on my own property continue to be paid from my rental income.

Otherwise, what is his is mine. I am pretty tight with money though, so DH has never been in a situation where he has to go all caveman on me and tell me to reign it in.