My partner and I met about three years when a conversation appeared about opening a joint bank account. At that time we were not married yet, but we just started living together after moving to Canada as part of Working Holiday.
Until then, we divided most of the things equally. He always earned more than me, but I was determined to cover my own expenses. He often invited me to dinner or to the cinema, but I tried to repay as far as possible.
When we moved to Canada together, dividing all joint expenses seemed unnecessary. None of us wanted to run a spreadsheet or use a calculator to calculate who is to blame for food and rent.
Then he raised the topic of a joint bank account.
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“Why don't we just open a common account?” He said one evening on the couch, playing on Xbox. This was not the first conversation on this topic – he mentioned it a few months before our move, and I was careful.
For me, the perspective of having a common account sounded strange and it was grown up. I was 25 years old and then I thought that joint bank accounts have only marriages, along with a station wagon and a mortgage.
However, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. One afternoon after work alone and I went to the local branch of Bank of Montreal on Banff Avenue with our identity evidence and we opened our first joint bank account. I remember that after leaving the bank we took a picture together, laughing. It was a milestone in our relationship, which I didn't really think about before.
The combination of our money has changed our relationship
Something has changed in our relationship right away. It was not just about the convenience of having a common account, i.e. the possibility of paying bills or more effective saving. There was a feeling that we were on the same side. We combined our resources, made joint financial decisions and really functioned as a team.
At the beginning, each of us paid a certain amount every week to a joint account, intended for life costs and savings goals for a three -month journey around South America. You can call us naive, but we did not set any rules regarding expenses or talk about what would happen if we part. Then we were in a good place in our relationship and we both trusted ourselves that we would do what we needed.
A year later, when we moved from Canada to Great Britain, we used the same system – opening a common account and transferring a certain amount to them. Then we did it again when we returned to Australia. The system worked great and made a shared apartment, travel and expenditure management much simpler.
We have a money management system that works in our case
After the wedding, and I read about financial management and We decided to set up several different accounts – one for our daily expenses, one for our “money for pleasure” (activities, meals in the city, entertainment, etc.) and one for savings and investments. This financial management strategy turned out to be invaluable and helped us plan the budget and live within our possibilities.
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We have been married for over a decade and we are still using the same system. We know couples who completely separate their finances and although it works them, we found the best system for us. We raise a family together and strive for common financial purposes, so money management just made sense.
Looking back, I think that one of the biggest breakthroughs in our relationship was not a joint move or even a wedding. Surprisingly, it was the moment of opening a joint bank account. It was a turning point – a moment when we decided that we would act as a team towards a common financial goal.
The above text is a translation with American Business Insider edition
