Paying Bills (POLL)

amother

Purple

Thu, Nov 21 2019, 1:07 am

Sometimes me sometimes him.
For example he took care of washing machine and fridge, I paid dryer and bed etc..
Sometimes we do it together, " do you have the bill? Yes okay tell me whats the number"

But usually we buy something and then designate one of us who is responsible for paying for it. And then the other person just reminds.
But for example I was supposed to pay for something (new decorative things for the house) and forgot until last minute so he paid.

Insurances are also split up. That includes checking regularly if we should switch because there's a better offer or something like that.
We usually decide who has "less on their plate" atm. If I know he has a stressful week, I pay and if I have to do extra hours at work, he does.

And then of course everyone pays their own stuff separately. My car payments I'm the one responsible of course and he's responsible for his.

I like it because we're both involved in the financials and it's not all on one person.
If I was a sahm I'd do it the same I think. But I can understand why the husband wouldn't wanna be involved in paying bills after coming home from work.

amother

Oak

Thu, Nov 21 2019, 1:49 am

DH takes care of CC and set up a few auto pays. I do most of the check writing ones. Probably 65-35 or 60-40 with me getting bulk. But it's a joint account and all the money is in it together. It's just a matter of who literally writes out the check.

amother

Jade

Thu, Nov 21 2019, 3:44 am

I'm in charge of finances but DH is mostly in charge of bill paying (whatever isn't on auto pay which I'm not sure is anything at this point.)

It started back in the day when you had to go in to the post office here in Israel to pay your bills. DH's hebrew was much better than mine and his schedule was more flexible so it fell on him and hasn't changed.

Teomima

Thu, Nov 21 2019, 10:06 am

Dh has a history of being a financially irresponsible. That combined with the fact that for a decade I was the main breadwinner meant that I became in charge of all household bills and finances.

Since then he's become the sole breadwinner (temporarily) but I still handle all the bills. He gives me whatever money I need each month and I pay everything (though technically I can take the money myself, without asking, since my name is on his account. But this way he learns to "pay" the bills by "paying" me).

amother

Bronze

Thu, Nov 21 2019, 10:55 am

ALL of the monthly household bills (rent, electric, gas, cable/wifi, etc) are on auto pay. I put them on autopay using DH's bank account info. He pays his own credit card bills. I have all mine on auto pay. We keep our finances separate.

amother

Mint

Thu, Nov 21 2019, 11:01 am

I pay all bills not done through hora'at keva (basically auto pay) and except for rent. I also manage our savings because it's my money from before marriage and with a brokerage service, but I keep him advised of everything going on. DH keeps track of our joint account and lets me know when there are bills to be paid. He also is in charge of the credit card.

It's annoying but it works for us because DH can be forgetful about the bills especially when stressed, and I'd rather do it in a reasonable time frame instead of hearing him berate himself for another missed bill.

amother

Seafoam

Thu, Nov 21 2019, 11:10 am

The bank account is on both our names and we can both see everything online. I pay bills either autopay or through my bank online. DH gets the utility bills to his email, so he sometimes pays and emails me that he took care of it, or he forwards the email to me. I keep track that we made a payment already this month and if not check with him if he got the bill yet.
Mortgage and Credit cards, both his and mine, I take care of. I enjoy it, he doesn't care. So it works for us.

Merrymom

Thu, Nov 21 2019, 8:48 pm

Whoever is more responsible with money should do it. You don't want to let him take over just to ruin your credit c"v. If your both good about money and you have small children to take care of, then I say he should do it.

zaftigmom

Thu, Nov 21 2019, 9:39 pm

DH pays the bills but we make all financial decisions together (even when I wasn't working). We keep the cash in an easily accessible place for both of us. I understand budgeting more than him but he's more responsible with paying the bills.

iammom

Thu, Nov 21 2019, 9:56 pm

My husband does and I’m happy about that. We’d have lots of things turned off or closed down if I took care of it. TMI

I don’t know what I’d do if chas v’shalom something happens. I guess that’s the same irresponsibility coming through.

amother

Purple

Fri, Nov 22 2019, 4:04 am

amother [ Bronze ] wrote:

So he pays for his things and all family things?
Or how do you divide it up?
We also have separate bank accounts, kids bank account mine and he has his. We pay all the kids stuff from the kids account, all family stuff like rent, vacations , food etc we split up evenly and then everyone pays their own stuff.
It's fair because we have similar income.
If one of us made much more than the other , I think we would have a joint account and then only some spending money or whatever on the extra accounts. But I'd love to know how you make it work.

amother

Mustard

Fri, Nov 22 2019, 4:45 am

How do you all have so many bills to pay? Does everyone here live in the US? It seems like such a time consuming system.

I live in Israel. Mortgage is automatically taken from the bank (hora'at keva). All purchases are automatically taken from the credit card (if it's a huge purchase, many will split it up over 12 payments, but it's still automatic). Internet, phone, etc are all taken automatically off the credit card every month.

Many people do their water, electric and city taxes automatically too, but I pay those online. A bill comes once every two months for each of these. So that's 3 bills to take care of over two months, online. Takes 5 min.

I don't know anyone who spends much more time than that on paying bills, unless they own a private business or something. It's interesting that the US system is so different.

Metukah

Fri, Nov 22 2019, 5:04 am

I voted other because we are equally involved and equally responsible for all finances.

When we first got married, I was the breadwinner and he was also new to a foreign country and language, so I dealt with all bills, but being the responsible person he is, he was very involved.

Most bills; utilities, telephones, mortgage... are automatically debited from our bank (autopay), whatever isn't is dealt with by either one of us

baby12x

Fri, Nov 22 2019, 6:03 am

My husband actually does the physical act of paying the bills but its all automated and decided before so it is just a matter of clicking pay on some accounts.
Our rent we pay by check and he deals with that. One kids babysitter is currently cash and he usually is the one to go to the ATM to get out the cash for that.

We are both aware/have access to all accounts.

If you are ok with one spouse handling all the bills and accounts (no reason why not if that works for you) you still NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU KNOW WHERE ALL YOUR MONEY IS KEPT AND HOW TO ACCESS IT.

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curlyhead

Sat, Nov 23 2019, 5:43 am

I pay the bills but it takes me around 20 min a month. Every pay I transfer money to the bill account. Before the rent is due I pay all bills. Some I pay in advance as we did not get bill yet but I estimate how much we spend so by the time the bill comes I am in credit.