My hubby and I got married 3 1/2 years ago. At that point I was working, but we had already decided to combine resources as we had a marriage of minds as well as hearts. He hated handling money (lietrally got the shakes) and so let things go till he had a big stack of bills (and late charges) to pay. I took over bill paying, then got sick a few weeks after we got married and never went back to work again. I still handle the bills. It is a Wednesday routine for me. We talk about finances but unless things get realy desperate, he doesn't want to hear exact figures. I'm supposed to give him a heads up several months in advance to Really push for new jobs.
At this point we have 3 mortgages, my (our) house, His workshop (soon to be our house) and a rental property we bought. We pay our CC bills off in full each month. I look at our bank account and rejoice as their is money there--I had been married prior to a 1st class spendoholic. Him, he still gets nervous about the fact we have several mortgages, etc.
We have an agreement that without the others permission/agreement neither one of us can spend more than $25 for miscellanous stuff. This really keeps the bills down.
Our finances merged wonderfully, but so did everything else. I've never been happier and I think that is also why we can deal with our finances well, it is just how we live our lives together. No fights, no arguements, just lots of communication!
