Quote:
Originally Posted by sandrark
Steve, it does make sense, and you're not wrong.
For us though, we don't want EVERY CENT and EVERY DECISION to be negotiated. Neither of us would typically buy expensive individual items, but we do once in a great while. For example, DH wanted a digital SLR camera for years. He waited for 6+ years until they came down into "reasonable" territory. So he bought it with his saved money.
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We're the same way. In a situation like that, my wife would know that I've wanted the camera for 6 years. She would know that I've been waiting for the price to come down. And she would know that we have plenty in savings to cover the purchase without affecting any other financial goals or needs. It wouldn't matter in which account (or in whose name) that money was. I guess I don't get how it matters that the money is in his account vs. being in your joint account.
I realize that a lot of this is mindset about money. There are lots of things people do with their money that we don't see the need for. For example, lots of people have a vacation fund, a separate account earmarked for an upcoming trip. Other people have a new car fund or an account for home repairs or whatever. We don't see the need to compartmentalize our money in that way. We have one checking account and one savings account. The money in those 2 accounts gets used for pretty much everything: monthly bills, entertainment, dining out, groceries, medical costs, travel, home and car repairs, etc. All income goes into one pot and all spending comes out of that one pot. It works for us.
We are definitely not like your in-laws. I think we have very good balance. We dine out fairly often, love to travel, enjoy Broadway shows and do plenty of other fun things. In fact, my wife and I just got back a few hours ago from an overnight trip to Atlantic City where we met friends for dinner last night, did some shopping and a fair amount of gambling.
Our theory is pretty much the same as yours. 20% of my gross goes to savings. 50% of my wife's gross goes to savings. How the rest gets spent really doesn't matter because I know we can meet our long term goals with that plan.