[DivaJen]

I don't know if it's a plan, but just for an example here is how things run here:

DH is self-employed, and I am technically an employee. Once a month he writes me a check - it is half of his monthly income. He pays the mortgage, our health premiums (but not DD's) and business taxes, and I pay for everything else. We both use the same visa card account, so we can easily see how much we're spending each month (we log in online to check the balance). We have separate bank accounts, so if we want to buy something for each other and not have the other person see what we spent, we can.

But as far as having money to spend on whatever each month, it's basically a trust issue for us. We know what our goals are as far as trying to save money; we know what our monthly expenses normally are and how much money we have coming in. So we both know how much 'wiggle room' there is in our monthly income. We don't have a set amount where we consult with each other, but I wouldn't go out and buy a new computer without talking to him about it, and neither would he. We have a feel for how much is fine to spend without talking to the other person about it first.

Above all, we talk about our finances quite a lot. There are no secrets or mysteries in our relationship when it comes to money. We both know eactly how much is coming in, how much is going out, and what our goals are.

I have no idea if that is helpful, but that's our household in a nutshell.

FWIW, when we were both working and each making about the same amount of money, we split up the bills. It works for us to have us both involved that way.