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by KronisLV 1398 days ago
> I am currently the main provider and my wife works part time while in school. All money is our money no matter who earned it. It’s never been a point of debate or emotions other than “oh we got more money this month, cool!” in the event of a bonus or extra income.

This probably works nicely if you find the right person - someone who has both spending habits that are reasonably similar to yours and when the relationship itself is stable.

But what about situations where:

  - one of the people is more frugal than the other, quite possibly with the other person spending money lavishly on wants, not needs?
  - the relationship may fall apart (breaking up or divorce), either due to different personalities, life circumstances or other factors?
Personally I think that joint finances are rather risky in all but the more stable and long term relationships.
1 comments
aprdm 1398 days ago
What difference would it make in case of a divorce? hint: None

And about the first one.. I don't see how people could decide to have a life together with that sort of difference. IMO seems pretty hard to be aligned on world views when someone is more frugal and the others love fancy stuff.

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KronisLV 1398 days ago
> What difference would it make in case of a divorce? hint: None

Depends on the country and local laws, I'd wager. Regardless, it's probably a good idea especially before a marriage has happened, though lots of people rush into getting married nowadays.

> I don't see how people could decide to have a life together with that sort of difference.

The fact of the matter is that some things can reveal themselves later in the relationship and having joined finances too quickly is probably a mistake. The hard part is that you can't really gauge when you have the other person figured out, e.g. the whole "rose tinted glasses" period that may drag on long into the relationship.

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