How Different Couples are Splitting their Bills

The modern family no longer relies on one person being the breadwinner and handling all the money stuff – income, paying bills and investing. Today, both men and women are bringing in the bacon or as I saw this morning, someone brings the bread and the other brings akara.

However, this doesn’t mean that the responsibility for money management in the home is being split equally or proportionally in all cases, some still have it the ‘old school’ way.

Here we look at some different methods used by couples:

Equal Splits – The partners contribute equally towards settling bills and making investments. This would suit couples on an equal footing in terms of income and debt.

Proportionate Splits – The partners make pro-rata contributions based on their income toward settling bills and making investments. This would suit couples with unequal incomes.

One Person Pays – If one partner is a stay home parent, going to school or out of job, the other partner handles all the household bills. It could also be by choice that the family lives on the income of one partner and saves/invests the income of the other partner.

Allocate the bills – With this system, each partner has a certain bill that they are responsible for.

Combine Everything – The couple put all their resources into a joint account from which bills are paid, investments are made and each person also makes personal spending.

Clearly, there are many ways couples can manage their finances and none is necessarily right or wrong. Every couple just have to find a system that works for them. You may find it by trying different methods until you hit what works. It’s also important to remember that what worked then may not work now, especially if there’s been a material change in the financial situation of either of the partners.