I know this question has been asked before, but I have a new circumstance in my life and need your input. Currently, my DH and I have joint checking and savings accounts. I work away from home now, but am opening my own in home daycare and want a seperate account for that. I plan on putting so much from daycare into our joint account and use the daycare account for daycare expenses and possible things I want to purchase for myself. Should we open an another account for my DH so he has an account for his spending only? So we would have a joint (for bills) and seperate accounts for each of us? Will this cause confusion or cause less arguements over how we are each spending money? Thanks in advance.

I read a news article that said that a study showed that multiple bank accounts made it more difficult to manage your money. Having gone that route, I tend to agree.

I have a girlfriend who had a business with her husband. They opened a new checking account just for that business. Then they started two other side businesses and opened accounts for each of those. It got crazy. The money never seems to be in the right account. She thought she had to do that for tax reasons but she didn't. The IRS really doesn't care where you keep the money as long as you report your income and expenses correctly.

I'd separate the desire for an addition business checking account from the problems with personal spending money. First, yes you should pay yourself out of the daycare account. However, how you use that money is open to discussion.

As for personal spending money, I think maintaining a separate checking account for that purpose could be costly. There are minimum balances that have to be maintained and fees with a checking account. Instead, I'd look into purchasing a Visa cash card. Each pay period, l would load the card with your allowance. You could then use the card for on-line purchases and debit transactions. If the card doesn't transact, then it is empty.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

I would open another acct to use soley for business purposes. I agree with Cookie that too many accts can get too hard to manage.

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~Happiness is a large family~

I agree to open one just for your business. But, I do not believe in multiple accounts for a marriage. I feel they cause more $ issues and make it harder to manage finances as a team.

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Alaska-mama-of-2

Proud mama to a 5 year old DD and a 2 year old DS


I’ve been SWAK’d!

For us a business account and a joint account is the way too go. If my husband and I had joint, business, and our own personal accounts I would be balancing all four of them and that would drive me insane! I'm not even sure my husband knows how to balance a checkbook - though he's not an idiot and would figure it out.

When my DH worked for a friend at his business- the biggest mistake that he did was having a combined joint checking account and business account. His wife would go shopping and they would spend money like mad and my DH would go without a paycheck since they did not have enough money in the account. The business eventually went under (in a way Thank God for my DH- I felt bad for his friend and his family though!) in which was majorly contributed by their outragous spending.

I think having a seperate checking for your own business is a smart idea- so you can keep that money seperate from your own income for your business expenses, taxes and so on. If you feel as if you DH will get upset that you have extra income coming in- every time you have a large amount in your checking- take some out to help pay extra on bills or give him a little bit of money that he can spend or so on. If he gets upset abot it- let him know that as soon as your business is taking off- he won't have to worry about being the only one working and so on! I think for the most part he will be understanding!

We have always done Joint, What I have done in the past (I don't now because the budget is tighter) is give DH Fun money in cash every week that way I wasn't worrying that he was spending too much and he didn't worry about me doing the same,

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006 &

Organizer of the Coupon Clippers of Tacoma

Coming from experience of having several direct sales businesses over the years, it is much easier to keep you personal and business funds completely seperate.

First of all, you will easily know how much business $$ you have by looking at your balance. Please do not be tempted to spend all that is "left over". You will need to save part for taxes and future supplies/purchases. Write yourself a paycheck from your business account and deposit it into your joint checking account.

I would agree with most everyone who has posted before.. Having too many accounts is just a logistical nightmare. Right now, we have a joint account with our old bank.. my husband has his own checking account.. haven't had the chance to get me on that account yet. I also have my own checking account.. but this is left over from my direct sales days. I haven't closed the account, because there is only $5 in it, and there are no fees associated with it. When I start babysitting again in the fall, I will be depositing all my income there, and writing myself a paycheck out of that account.. that way I can start saving $$ for tax time.

Good Luck!

I agree that only one more account for the business. If you're wanting your spending money, you can write yourself a check from the "business acct" for your salary. But really I think an acct just for the business and both of you take your fun money from your joint acct is the best way to go.

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I guess I'm against the norm here. I have about 6 accounts total and have no problem keeping up with each of them. I have never, nor will I ever combine accounts with my DH. Both he and I are very independent people, prefer to manage our own money, and have never (nor ever plan to) had a fight about money. His money is his to do as he chooses, and mine is mine. I have what I pay for monthly out of the bills, and he has his responsibilities to pay for. We agreed on this plan, and it works very well. I pay the rent and hydro - he pays for gas, groceries, cable and telephone. We have 1 savings account that is joint, but each of us have our own accounts for everything else. He also has his own business (which I help with) and that is a separate chequing account also. I would go nuts if I had to ask someone's permission to spend my own money. We've both discussed this, and both are in total agreement there.