How Do Independent Couples Divide Up Expenses? |
12 Comments |
My fiancee and I have very independent personalities. When we met eachother, we each owned our own property. We each have fairly successful careers, though I must admit that her’s is taking off a bit more than mine. While we lived together in Boston, we split expenses more or less 50-50.
When we moved cross country for her promotion, we did talk a little bit about money. She offered to help with some of the expenses that occurred due to the move including the negative cash flow property that resulted. However, she was concerned in helping out so much that I’ll go out and buy a jet ski (her joking sarcasim), while I was somewhat concerned that she’d spend the extra money on designer purses (my joking sarcasim).
I was on board with continuing the 50-50 split until I realized exactly how much of a breadwinner she will be and how much less I’ll take home with the increased expenses. I came up the idea using each of contributions of our total net income to figure out how we should divide up our expenses. She brings home 57.6% of the income, so I suggested she paid 57.6% of the expenses. After doing the math, she’ll still take home a good deal more than me each month. After all, she makes more money, she should enjoy it.
I’m curious as to what others would do. Do you think this is a fair split? This will become a moot point once we get married - or at least that’s the current plan.
This post deals with: ... and focuses on:Couples and Money
 Stumble
 Reddit
 Digg
 Del.icio.us
 Propeller12 Responses to “How Do Independent Couples Divide Up Expenses?”
Leave a Reply
Previous: What to do about Hawaii tripNext: Best Buy Extended Warranty
November 18th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
[...] how do independent couples divide up expenses - I’d probably do what lazy posted here, although I’ve always wondered whether I’d feel the same way if the other party earned significantly more or less [...]
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:58 am
[...] that to the method outlined here last October, How Do Independent Couples Divide Up Expenses?. Specifically, “I came up the idea using each of contributions of our total net income to [...]