We use a joint account and joint credit cards for most things. We each take a $250 monthly allowance to personal accounts. Most of our personal purchases still come from the joint account but every once in awhile you want something big without running it past the other person or you want to buy a gift for them and need the privacy. We budget and pay off our credit cards every week.

This arrangement works well for us. We are both financially responsible though. I think my wife prefers the joint account because I do the weekly budgeting and it allows her to get a clear view of her own expenses with charts. It also prevents all conversation of the sort, “who is paying for this,” that I’ve seen some of our friends get into.

I don’t really care if my wife spends more than I do. I don’t think she cares if I spend more than her. What we care for is that we can get a clear overview of everything to understand how our team is doing.