Those who make less than their Spouse/Partner, how do you manage finances together?

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My husband (24M) and I (23F) have been married for almost a year, but together for nine. Our incomes have always been fairly similar so we have split our bills (rent, utilities, etc.) 50/50. We paid for things like car payments, car maintenance, medical bills, and our phones separately. We currently have a joint checking account where we transfer money into for bills and then we each have our own separate checking accounts where our paychecks get deposited.

I currently make 38k and my husband has accepted an amazing new job with a significant pay increase from 35k to 80k. Due to this we are reconsidering on how we manage our finances together.

Two options we have considered are:

Option 1: (My proposal)

Having a joint account where both of our paychecks get deposited into, and bills are paid out from. Whatever money is left over after bills and savings, would get split between us into our own separate checking accounts for discretionary spending.

Option 2: (My husband’s proposal)

Continue having our paychecks deposited into our own accounts and transferring money into a joint account for bills. Bills would be split proportionally based off personal income. 30/70

Both options include a joint savings account that we will contribute to as of it were a bill.

If we go with option 1, I feel like we both get to be more involved with planning and budgeting for our future plans together rather than one person in control of the money. In addition, we both would be able to share the benefits of the increased household income.

IMO option 2 may seem fair on paper, but it makes me feel a lot less included on the financial planning for future expenses and this makes nervous. My husband is generally good with finances, but is an impulsive buyer. I think one of my husband’s concerns is that he will be much more limited on being able to purchase things or spend large sums of money if he is given an “allowance” amount instead of splitting it 30/70. I thought that having discretionary spending accounts would be a fair compromise to this, but I don’t think he agrees. Also, if we decide to do a 30/70 split, I will have a couple extra hundred dollars but my husband will have a couple thousand at the end of the month.

TL;DR: How do you and your spouse/partner manage finances when one makes significantly less than the other? Is it better to combine total income into a joint account, or split bills by percentage based off of personal income?

EDIT: Thank you so much to everyone for your responses! I really appreciate everyone sharing the different ways that they manage finances with their partner. It was super helpful and gave me some things to think about and discuss with my husband. I’m not sure which option we will go with, but likely a combination of the two. I don’t want my husband to feel like he’s being taken advantage of financially by any means or limited because of me, but I also want us to be equals when it comes to financial decisions.

Posted Jul 1, 2021, 12:23 AM UTC · edited

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