What is the best way to pool/share money when living together with someone?
I'm moving in with my girlfriend (female) and we agreed to keep a separate account in which we both pool money (a fix amount each month), which we use for food, bills, petrol etc.
Is a bank account more hassle than it's worth? It would include a monthly fee but that may be the only drawback.
Looked at Revolut as a simpler alternative, but from what I see these group vaults, only the admin can withdraw money, and you can't pay directly from it, so that's out
If you are gonna penny pinch your gf she will jump ship to someone who pays all her bills.
Tyler Diaz
Just use splitwise. Enter expenses and settle up and the end of the month. App is very convenient.
Easton Bailey
From what I see, that is only for splitting already made expenses, and settling who owes who what
This account would be for joint expenses, but also for saving up in the long term (if there's a bunch left, use it on a TV or a trip or something)
Luis Hall
This is true. A gf is an expense, this is why it's not advised on this board.
Hunter Bennett
whoa is this real?
Camden Russell
But why pool the money at all? You do you but I don’t see the point.
Xavier Sanders
>What is the best way to pool/share money don't also stopped reading there
Benjamin Ward
Don’t live with a woman you’re not engaged or married to
Jaxson Williams
THIS. Don't give up your freedom OP.
Henry Roberts
This looks shooped
Aiden Butler
do not move in with your girlfriend if you own the house. Cohabitation laws in some states see that as equivalent to being married if you live together for a certain time period. Then she can fuck you out of your money (Which she will do regardless). Give it time simp. Give it time.
Adam Watson
>if there's a bunch left, spend it on stupid shit
Josiah Edwards
Well we're making almost the same money and split everything 50/50
This way we'd keep money spent on food, rent, apartment stuff easy to track, and also save up for bigger stuff that we wanna buy together in the long term
It would also be simpler if we go out to eat, just use a card from our joint account instead of tracking who paid last time and how much it cost.
My (financial at least) freedom will be right here, not like I'll give up my personal account, this is just something extra on the side
Brayden Johnson
I am living with my GF so I can relate. The way we do it is by having an excel table in the cloud, that we can both access. We log expenses there and split everything. When I owe her it is logged as positive, when she owes me it is logged as negative. We do a sum at the end of each month and pay each other accordingly. No special apps needed. We have been doing this for years now without problems.
It is worth to note that we also earn about the same amount.
Robert Wilson
you can do it but it has to be 50/50 with no exceptions and it should only be used to pay rent, bills, groceries
Connor Phillips
Glad this works for you, but it honestly sounds very gay. Women should just make babies and dinner.
Landon Collins
That's the idea, everyone dumps a fix amount each month that we use for those expenses
Just what's the simplest way to go about this
In my experience spreadsheets always get forgotten or unmaintained, also sounds like a bit of a hassle desu
Cooper Nelson
Its probably better to do something like splint the rent 50/50 and then each of you take responsibility for certain bills like you pay the power she pays the internet etc. And then take turns buying gas/groceries. It won't be exactly 50/50 but it will be close enough and using a spreadsheet and shit will just feel like you're being petty to each other and unless your poor the difference in money won't be worth your time
Zachary Ross
Gay or not, we do it this way because there are still certain things I am not willing to pay for, like her n-th shoes and insane amount of clothes. I wouldn't want a split account to be used for that.
Evan Martinez
Elaborate on your system some more fren. I feel like I’d need a system like this if I ever settle down with my current fr because she’s a fucking spender that comes from money. How do you know she isn’t cooking the books?
This 100% I don't know about other places but where I live if a woman lives in your house for more than 30 days it becomes her legal home. You can not kick her out without going thru the courts. If she makes any allegation of domestic abuse she can get a restraining order that forces you out, but you still have to pay the bills.
Brody Gutierrez
Why not just tell her to use her own account for her stupid shit, and a split account for what you're using your excel sheet for?
Keep a separate account. Never let her know how much you have. Remember these things for when she inevitably leaves you, you will at least have some things to continue living for; not all will be lost
Cameron Kelly
And as others have said, track all shared expenses in splitwise. Your money is yours, her money is hers.
Hunter Cooper
That's the whole point of doing this - make a separate account that we use for shared expenses and saving; keep a private account for our personal saving and expenses
You can't save money in splitwise, can you?
Xavier Price
No, it just tracks expenses. Each of you should be saving separately, and spend money on major items together. I'd advise a joint account unless either of you can't pay for larger items out of pocket: you should be able to cover a larger expense to which she will repay
I see. But what's wrong with a joint account if we're using it for stuff that we both want/need to buy?
We keep our independence through our private accounts, and instead of worrying who owes who how much, we pay for shared stuff through the shared account which is being deposited into on a fixed monthly basis
It's easy to track, it's a predictable constant hit on your personal income and it sounds simple
