How Do You Do It?

[Jenifer Madson]

Manage the family checkbook, that is. Do you have joint accounts or separate? Do you each manage the bills or does it fall to just one of you? Bottom line, are you at all stuck doing it in a way that doesn't really support you?

It may surprise you to know that my husband, Les, and I went through no less than four incarnations of how we ran our day-to-day finances before we found what worked. First we tried operating out of one checkbook - what a disaster! We each knew what was coming in, but had different ideas about what needed to go out, and constantly collided as a result.

Then we handed over the bills to Les, but having to do all of the family finances in addition to the money management of our business was a bit much, so he took over the family stuff and I took over the business.

After a while, we switched. I think we just needed a change.

Now that we're in separate businesses, we each run our own checkbooks, and picked which household finances to each be responsible for. It works like a charm.

We jointly own everything, and communicate all the time about where we stand. We just stay out of each other's checkbooks so there's no confusion about it. It's one less financial thing to get in the way of what we'd rather be doing: enjoying each other's company.

Take A Minute:
Does your system for managing money need adjustment?

Make A Minute:
Collaborate with your partner on two ways you could adjust or improve how your finances are handled. Pick one and run with it for a couple of months.
Don't be afraid to try something new. You can always go back to what you were doing before.