They say it’s the thing couples fight about the most… Yet money management should not have to be a taboo topic in your relationship.  Instead, it should be something that you share and discuss openly, making mutual decisions that work for both partners.

Flying Solo versus Hooking Up

When you are single, you get to spend your money in whatever way you feel like – travel the world, shop at seasonal sales, you name it… And best of all?  No one is entitled to an opinion on how you spend your moola while you’re flying solo.

If you’re settling down and shacking up things change. The odds are that your partner will hold you accountable for some of the shared household expenses and vice versa. This means that you have to adjust the way in which you manage your finances when you become part of a couple.

What are your options?

There’s no right or wrong way to approach your shared finances.  Some couples spilt all of their financial responsibilities in two, so that each partner pays 50 percent of every shared expense.  If you opt to go this route, you will be accountable for R3000 of the R6000 rent that you pay for your apartment and your partner will have to pay the other R3000.

But what happens if what your partner earns is completely unequal to what you earn?  How do you keep your finances fair then?  This would depend on how you as a couple define “fair”.  Often in situations like these, couples opt to divide the financial responsibilities proportionally.  In other words, if you bring in 40 percent of the shared monthly income and your partner brings in the other 60 percent, you divide the financial responsibilities 40/60.   In this case, you would pay R2400 of the R6000 rent, while your partner pays the other R3800.

You can always just allocate different responsibilities to each partner as well.  You could be responsible for the groceries, cleaning and the water and electricity bills, while your partner covers the rent.

Gone are the days that the men just pay for everything while the women cook at home.  Today, fair is fair and, since both partners work (most of the time), both partners generally contribute to the household in some way.  Unless, of course, you find another workable solution.  Ultimately, how you manage your finances as a couple is up to you.

Just ensure that you’re covered…

One of the things to consider when you discuss each partner’s financial responsibilities is who is responsible for insurance.  Will you both pay your own vehicle’s insurance?  Will you split the insurance cost on your household content?  What about life insurance?

These are all important questions.  And you need to come to a workable agreement on all of them.  Get in contact with our insurance providers , and let them help you cover your most valuable assets.

Finally, it is worth remembering that merging your finances does not have to follow an ‘all or nothing’ approach where you commit to managing your finances in a certain way until ‘death do you part’.  Instead, you can chop and change it as your circumstances change.