There is no right or wrong answer to this question. It’s based solely on who is more comfortable or better at handling the task. It’s not that everyone is fighting to be the accountant in their relationship but it certainly helps when they know what they’re doing.
Money and finances are the number one reason why married couples get divorced. It is so discouraging to read because that’s something that can be worked out together. My husband and I surprisingly never fought about finances. I think it may have been that we didn’t have a lot to start out with when we got married and we were grateful for what we had. I don’t know but I am thankful for it. What did we fight about? We fought about getting a dog. Result? We now have two beautiful fur babies!
If you are unsure about who should handle the finances, ask each other who is more responsible and more likely to keep track of expenses. It could become a chore if neither of you are up to it but it has to be done. One of you has to take control of the expenses or else it’ll be out of control. The person who is going to be handling the finances will need to do the following: check bank account every day to ensure every expense is accounted for and nothing is out of the ordinary, check all credit cards for payment due dates and to ensure charges are correct, make an expense sheet of every bill and their due date to ensure they get paid on time. These are just small things that will need to be checked for accuracy and to ensure that your cards aren’t being compromised for fraud. If you are not checking your bank account and credit card accounts, you are already making a big mistake. Both my husband and my card have been compromised at least 5 times so checking on it daily will make sure that no one else is using your credit card.
In our household, I am the one who handles all of our finances. We do not have separate checking accounts, they’re all shared. I have my expense sheet and I mark off expenses that have been paid and waiting to be paid. I take care of all the bills, budget, and money. My husband trusts me wholeheartedly with all of our finances to the point where he never checks the bank or credit cards. He does this on his own volition whether he is too lazy to check or just trusts me. There has to be trust or else this plan will not work. I am glad that he has never questioned where any of our finances are and just asks if our spending is within our budget. Anytime we purchase anything, we always ask each other for permission as a sign of respect, not control. We want to make sure everything lines up with our budget.
What I started doing was withdrawing the extra cash we had and used that to spend. I know that barely anyone uses cash to pay for things nowadays but for us, it’s a way of life. When the cash is gone, no more spending! That way, we don’t spend more than what we have. It’s so easy to swipe a card and that may be one of the reasons why they created a card. You lose track of your spending and that is how you overspend. I do leave some money in the cards in case we need to get things such as gas, higher priced items, etc. that do not accept cash. This may not work out for everyone so do what works best for you.
Sincerely,
Melissa Lee