How should I best handle bills when moving in with my boyfriend?
YMMV, but when I moved in with my boyfriend, we set up a joint account in addition to our own private bank accounts. Each month we put an agreed-upon amount of money in there to cover rent, groceries, utilities and miscellaneous stuff like laundry detergent, etc. It was house money, and our money in our accounts was personal money to cover personal bills like student loans, credit card payments, etc. It worked out well for us because I never felt like I was always the one buying all the groceries and he never felt he was always the one paying the cable bill.
My boyfriend (and subsequent fiance/husband) and I got a joint account for bills. It worked great. He made more money than me so we agreed [before we moved in together] that he would contribute a larger amount for monthly bills than I did. Then we would transfer money into the joint account after each paycheck. This worked out great for us and I recommend it with the caveat that you need to talk to each other and spell out how it’s going to work before you move in together. You will also need to discuss who is actually in charge of paying what bills as necessary, who will be checking the account balance, what happens when eating out etc. It will also require some budgeting so you can coordinate pay dates with bill due dates. It does not have to be a big deal, but can cause problems if assumptions aren’t adequately spelled out in the beginning. I’m happy to answer any specific questions you may have about this via mefi mail.
