Talking about money may not be too romantic. But, if you don’t, your relationship may suffer. Many couples avoid talking about their finances until it’s too late. Sometimes, an awkward conversation in time can be the key to a relationship not being shipwrecked.
It is convenient to communicate with the couple and be transparent. “Before even starting to live together, it is important to talk about each other’s financial situation. And it is not only necessary to talk about income, but it is also important to deal with debts”, explain the experts of the product comparator HelpMyCash.com, who have discussed the best way to organize finances as a couple.
“Hiding them is not an idea, because they can limit the good financial capacity of a member of the relationship and end up interfering in common finances,” they add. If one of you is in debt, he will have to use part of her income to pay off her debts and will have less money available to pay rent, travel, etc.
It is also important to ask what kind of people we are. Ants or spendthrifts? And to know convenient are the projects in the short and long term of each one. Talking about it will help us to know if we are financially compatible with our partner.
Deciding how expenses are distributed
Organizing finances together is even more important when the couple begins to live together. You have to make many decisions. Do you intend to share everything or do you prefer to maintain your financial independence?
Opening a free joint account makes managing finances as a couple much easier. Paying the rent, the electricity and gas bill, the Internet line, the purchase from the supermarket… can become a real headache if all common expenses are not centralized in the same account. Our Bizum can end up fuming if we have to continually calculate how much each one has paid and how much is owed to the other.
HelpMyCash experts recommend centralizing common expenses in a joint account. But first it is important to decide what use that account will have. Are you going to share everything or do you prefer to keep each of your personal accounts, in which you receive your salary, and use the joint account only to manage common finances? There are couples who decided to share everything, there are others who prefer to have their accounts totally separate and many others who opt for a mixed formula: maintain their financial independence and open a joint account for common expenses (rent, household bills, children’s expenses). , shopping at the supermarket, saving as a couple…).
If we decide to open a joint account only for common expenses, before taking the step it is very important to make it clear how the expenses are going to be distributed. The most common is them in equal parts. But if there is a large difference in income, the person who earns less may lose out. One solution in these cases is to distribute the expenses proportionally. For example, if the sum of the rent, the receipts, the purchase from the supermarket and the rest of the common expenses add up to a thousand euros per month, one member of the couple can contribute 600 euros to the common account and the one who earns less, 400.
“The third option is for each member of the couple to contribute the same percentage of their income, so that the economic effort is identical,” they explain in HelpMyCash. For example, it can be decided that the two members contribute 25% of their income, so that if one earns 1,000 euros, they would contribute 250 euros and if the other would earn twice as much, they would contribute 500.
The best accounts for couples
And what kind of account do you have to open? If the objective is to pay common expenses, a current in which receipts can be domiciled, purchases paid and transfers made. Ideally, there should be no maintenance fees or bonding requirements, especially if each partner is going to keep her name on her own account. And what options are there to fulfill these premises? enough.
The BBVA Online Account has no maintenance or administration fees, allows free transfers and can be opened with two holders, although both have to be new customers. Each will receive their own free debit card. It is not necessary to direct deposit a payroll or maintain a minimum balance to avoid paying commissions.
A very similar account is the Santander Online Account for new clients, which also has no commissions or conditions and provides a debit card to each member of the couple. Supports up to two holders.
Another option is the Abanca Clara Account, also for new customers. This online account can be opened alone or as a couple and has no maintenance fees or linking conditions (no need to direct deposit a paycheck). Each holder will have their debit card at no cost. This account has an extra advantage: although it is not mandatory to direct deposit a salary to open it, the bank gives 300 euros net to holders who direct deposit a salary of at least 1,200 euros and keep it for two years. And if both members of the couple do it, the gift is double, of 600 euros.
The advantage of these accounts is that, since there are no strings attached, you don’t have to worry about paying a salary or maintaining a minimum balance. They can be used to domicile household receipts, deposit money when needed and pay common expenses such as the weekly purchase, a trip, a dinner, etc.
In any case, “it is very important to meet the commitments that are reached and prioritize the joint account over personal expenses,” says HelpMyCash. It is not much use talking about money and organizing finances as a couple if later, at the first change, one of the two cannot contribute the money that is due to them because they have spent it on something else.
