How We Manage Money As A Couple - How We Split Expenses + Combine Finances

We talk about money all of the time, but we haven't really done a deep dive on how we manage our money together as a couple - so that's what we're doing in this video! We've been together for 6+ years now, we’ve been living together for 5+ years, and we’ve been working together full-time for 2+ years, so we’ve definitely had shared expenses, and now shared income, for a while now.

Every couple does things differently, and there's not one perfect way to manage your money together, but we want to share our methods and experiences, and also some things that we think work really well for us. Let us know how you manage your money in your relationship in the comments, below!

0:00 How we handle money as a couple
2:38 Our bank account set up
5:06 How we split expenses
8:55 How we save and invest
11:30 Our monthly budget meetings

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Disclaimer - This content is for education and entertainment purposes only. Steph & Den do not provide tax or investment advice. The information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.

[stephandden]

How do you manage money with your partner? Let us know! 👀

[wzent]

Dennis you gotta wife up Steph bro lol
Keep it up the great work guys

[bruuh]

I LOVE how you are telling us that this is what works for YOU. Of course, knowing both of you, I am not surprised everything you shared makes total sense, given your unique situation. Too many people out there want to give you a formula, a cookie-cutter that just does NOT apply to your situation. I love how you are able to break down every decision with a combination of different factors, and then sharing with us that reasoning. Thank you sooo much for what you are doing! I am going to move out this month from my parents' home, at 25 (Pretty old I know, but in my culture, it is considered young still, can you imagine!), so thank you for sharing this advice!

P.S. I can't believe you are almost at 100K subscribers! Super proud of your journey Steph, Den :)

[saram]

To each one's own. Do what works for your unique circumstance. Hubby and I have a pretty big difference in salary so we split things according to percentage of income as opposed to 50/50.

[smallmj]

We've been married for 25 years now. I have always been the money person, but in the last few years I have made a concerted effort to make sure that my wife is fully aware of our finances. I don't want her to have any nasty surprises if something happens to me. We've had a joint bank account and credit card ever since the early days of our marriage and that works for us, but it doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

[stanleyokpara]

Nice piece Steph and Dennis. Been consistent lately in following your videos and have really learnt a lot from it. We are salaried employees and been paid by-monthly. And we have a separate family account where we put in 1 paycheck each into the account for strictly Immediate family expenses while the other paycheck we use for savings, Investing, extended family and charity.

[Lz-hbci]

Great Video. Stephen, when are you going to propose to this beautiful queen?

[ornela]

Dream team. Financial transparency and literacy is 🔑

[ChrisRampersad]

I was in a relationship and heard that "roommate"comment. It was a way to get out of paying a portion instead of 50/50 or some % . No money communication because talking about money was stressful, couldn't transfer $ if I bought groceries because it was more convenient if I went. Have your money work for you, talk about, plan and set goals. Ps that relationship ended and I'm happily tracking my own money. You guys are awesome.

[adventurousbec]

I like how you divvy up your main shared expenses and how that works for you!

[ram]

I love how you guys explain everything. Me and my wife we do things a little different. I cover all the expenses my self and we invest and save all my wife income. Its been working for us for a year now and we like it. It works for us and we have been able to budget and control our finances this way.

[marcst-gelais]

Love the vid, thanks for sharing!

On our side, we can't split 50/50 since one has significantly more incomes than the other. We do not think going 50/50 is the solution for us, since the one who makes higher earnings will be able to save/invest much more than the one who makes less earnings. So it's pretty simple, we decided to go with %. Each pay, we put around 55-65% of our income in the joint account to pay for the basics. In that 55-65, there's always some savings at the end of the month for family trips or anything needed out of budget. We can do whatever we want we the rest (investing, etc).

On paper the one who makes higher incomes seem to put a lot more than the other. But you always want to take a look at this in % and not in $. In the end, it is really more equal and we feel better about it. I can't imagine split 50/50 when my wife is doing 1/3 of my income. This would be cruel IMO. Now at least she can invest for her retirement and have sort of a financial liberty.

Anyway, great vid, thanks again!

[irtifakhan]

We have been married for 7 years now and knock on wood never had any major fight regarding money. We both keep 300 to 800 for our personal expenses. Everything else goes into the joint account. Now we have similar income but even when one of our incomes was significantly lower we did the same.

For any big personal purchases we use our personal fun money. Food, house, car, eating out, vacay and savings all goes from the joint account.

[christinemitchell]

Hi guys! Thanks for touching on this topic!!! My husband and I have been married for almost 10 years. We have kept our finances separate this whole time but our money is ours combined regardless of where it lives. I am the budget nerd and I take care of both budgets ran through YNAB. My husband takes care of all of his work expenses, student loans, personal expenses, our household, and the majority of our groceries and eating out. I take care of my personal expenses, childcare and activities for our son, and all our holiday sinking funds. We feel that every couple has a specific job for each paycheck regardless of whether it is deposited into a joint or separate account.

Let’s keep this topic alive! I feel that there are so many couples out there with their own strategies and I would love to hear about everyone ❤

[barettmac]

Great video and important topic. My wife and I each have our own credit card for personal purchases and expenses, we also have a joint credit card (in my name with a secondary card holder) for all of our Joint purchases and expenses. We also have our own bank accounts and a joint account for similar reasons. All Joint expenses are split 50/50 as we both have good jobs, we also have target retirement savings each month. I save more because I make a little more than she does and she contributes to a pension.

[nursebondemcanada]

Transparency and communication is very important

[Aman]

Great video. I followed 75/15/10 goal to reach where I am. I have been doing that for a while and now I am comfortable for my emergency funds. I have started moving 25% of my monthly income to investing. You seem to be at 50% almost which is great. I just bought a home so it's hard to come at that level.

[HouseOfBurgz]

Keep the videos coming. Thank you for the content!

[emilyboulter]

I like hearing what other couples manage their money. My husband and I have lived together for 6 years. I pay our rent (this includes utilities) and tenant insurance and he pays for our food and internet. For us this is close enough to equal and I don’t mind paying a bit more because I make more. My income is also the same every month and his is variable so he can decide what we eat based on his income.

[gabrieladagenais]

how do you automatically transfer your pay from your business account to your personal checking account on the first of the month? or do you do it manually?