My husband and I maintain separate accounts. We were both independent and older (me 31, he 30) when we married. The main reason why everything is separate is because I owned my home before I married, and all of the household bills (mortgage, utilities, etc) are set up to be automatically drafted from my checking account. When we married, DH sold his home and moved into mine, and it was just easier to leave everything hooked up to my account. So, he writes me a check every month for his portion of the bills, and I place that check into a savings account that has both of our names on it (my idea...although the money that goes into it comes from my earnings, his name is on it so I won't be tempted to spend it...I have to go through him first before I touch it). I also maintain my own small savings accounts (my brick and mortar and ING, for little emergencies and such), and he maintains his own checking and savings as well. It works for me because I absolutely hate asking permission to spend money, and with separate accounts I don't have to be accountable to anyone if I decide to buy a pair of shoes or an outfit. Oh yeah, DH tries to monitor my shopping habits on the sly (he always notices when I have on something new), but he knows I'm spending my own money, so he really can't say much.
I will say that it would be nice if we had a joint checking account for household stuff and joint purchases. Handling the mortgage and set bills is no problem, but it's a little trying at times to keep up with little things, like lawn supplies purchased at home depot and groceries/SAMS warehouse purchases for the house, since we both make those types of purchases. Also, when we make joint purchases like buying a treadmill or landscaping for the yard, he'll usually pay for it and deduct my half from what he owes me for the monthly bills. Or, when we purchase stuff online, I'll put it on my credit card (he doesn't trust using his credit card online for fear of identity theft), and I'll add his half of the online purchase to what he owes for monthly bills. That's a lot of record keeping of who owes whom for what, and a joint account would probably make it a lot easier. Otherwise, I'm a big proponent of separate accounts. Less arguments about how money is being spent.
