I am very happy for those families who can successfully merge their finances. It takes teamwork and like goals. However, in my case, we merged our finances in the beginning. Then the wife was spending money intended for bill paying on personal stuff so that when the bills came due there was no money. It got so bad that we had to separate our money. This is how we did it. We each kept our own checking/savings accounts. We had one "bill paying" account that we each contributed to. We contributed a set percentage of our pay, not a set dollar amount. That way each of us felt like we were contributing equally. That money was only for bills. Well, that worked for a while, then she was dipping into that. So the final result was that we closed the joint account, she still gave me the set amount for bills, which I put into my account and every bill got paid before it was due and the problem was solved. With my wife, it was impossible to merge finances and be successful. She had absolutely no interest in how much the bills were or how they got paid. She wanted that left up to me. I envy those of you who have financially successful marriages.
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