Just another curiosity how others do things post. For our entire married life 39years so far,we have had one checking account. There is no mine, there is no hers. Our thinking is that a marriage is a ship, you both are on it, if it sinks,you both go down. Of course we never had any great excess of money to hoard anyway. Any purchase over a hundred bucks or so is discussed. When I wanted a costly tool or toy, I got a part time job or put in over time to pay for it. What is your method?
We have two or three bank accounts but we both have access to them. Plus, we both have separate PayPal accounts because we're paid through PayPal, although my Social Security goes into another account. Mostly, what I earn from my online job is my spending money, although, from time to time, I have to send money to my wife to pay a bill that our other accounts won't cover.
Since we both had bank accounts when we met and married, we have kept both accounts for over 30 years. Both our names are on the accounts, but his old account is the primary where our income is deposited and bills are paid. My old account is a savings account where all dividends from my investments are deposited. Since I went through a divorce years ago, I have always believed that a woman (or a man for that matter) should have access to some funds of their own.
Guess we are also a bit of the old school. Always had one joint current account for incomes and bills. As far as savings accounts are concerned we were forced by the tax authorities to have separate accounts but have given permission for them to be accessed by either of us. For safety reasons I also have an account which I use for paying for online purchases of any kind only. This is linked to Amazon, for example. It turned out that having a major joint account works in our case but it surely does not always do. It was a nightmare for my brother because his wife just kept spending all the money that was in it always coming up with "excuses" and "reasons" why she'd needed it. Having separate accounts was the only solution then.