For over 16 years of our 26 year marriage, I handled the bills and finances. Greg and I are both quite conservative and responsible with money. So we have always been pretty much on the same page in this area, thankfully.
We had an agreement early on in our marriage that we would check with each other if we were going to spend over a certain amount at one time.
We always had joint accounts, which worked well for us. Neither of us is an over spender. We always paid off all credit card bills each month and the only debt we carried in those early years was our mortgage and sometimes a car payment. (Although we drive our cars until they are very old, so we often don’t have a car payment, which was awesome.)
Giving Up Control in My Marriage
As I learned about treating my husband with honor and respect and about giving up trying to control him, I realized that I was pretty OCD with our money. I checked the online accounts multiple times per day. I tended to obsess about the bills and how much we had in the checking account.
I also tended to be more generous with myself on spending what I wanted to spend than I was with the things he wanted.
For years, I made a good bit more money than Greg did and I tended to feel like that gave me more power in the marriage somehow. Especially with me handling the bills.
I decided it would be better if I gave the bill-paying and finance managing to Greg. Not because I couldn’t do it. I had done it in a very responsible way for years. But because it was another way that I could show trust and let Greg have a bit more control over something important after I had tried to control almost everything for so many years.
One Day, I Gave the Finances to My Husband
So one day I just gave him all the bills and passwords to the accounts and said something like, “I think it would be better if you are in charge of the bills. I think I am being too controlling with the money and I want you to feel like you have more freedom to lead in this area.” Then I left it with him and didn’t check on it again (after I had recently paid everything for the month).
At first, Greg wasn’t really excited about the idea. But he saw that I tended to stress over the bills. After a week or so, he picked it up.
Greg put almost everything on autopay and began to really enjoy paying the bills and handling the finances.
He said it was an extra weight but “it felt kind of neat.”
The Results
He has done a phenomenal job with our finances and because he had more involvement with our accounts, he started finding better deals and ways we could be better stewards of our money. I had expressed the desire to change things to save money when I was in charge, but he wasn’t very involved in the finances and didn’t feel the weight of it directly.
It worked better for us for him to be the one to figure things out like that and I was always happy to cooperate with whatever he felt was best.
I was a bit worried that he wouldn’t continue tithing. But he did. I mentioned once that I would really like for us to continue to tithe and he has always handled it.
I was there if he wanted help, of course, but he didn’t need it. I was shocked how me letting go of paying the bills took quite a lot of weight and heaviness off of my shoulders.
Greg really thrived on leading in this new way. And he began to grow by leaps and bounds in confidence after many years of tending to be more passive while I took charge. My husband finally being at the helm of the financial ship was the best financial decision I believe I have ever made.
He eventually started researching a lot more about investing and became extremely knowledgeable. At this point, his knowledge is far past mine on all things financial.
Now he makes more money than I do, but no matter who makes the most money, I am very happy to let him handle things. Of course, he involves me in major decisions, he asks for my input, and he trusts me to spend appropriately. I support his leading and spend responsibly. So we both trust each other and are more on the same page than ever.
Every Christian Couple Needs to Decide How They Want to Handle Their Finances
Every couple has to decide how they want to handle their finances. As long as you are honoring Scripture, you can do whatever works best for you. I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to do exactly what we did.
Some husbands don’t have a lot of time and prefer for their wives to pay the bills. This can work as long as the wife sees herself as part of a cooperative team with her husband, not as his boss with the money.
In my view, both spouses usually want to have a voice in the finances, budgeting, and spending. And I believe both need some discretionary income. It rarely seems to work well when one spouse hounds the other over every dime they spend. Or if one spouse has to beg for money from the other.
Of course, if you can’t agree, the husband is ultimately accountable for the leadership decisions, so seek to honor your husband and what he believes is best, (as long as he isn’t leading you into sin).
If one spouse has issues with compulsive spending, mania, ADD/ADHD, gambling addictions, drug/alcohol addictions, difficulties with math, etc… those are important things to prayerfully consider when you decide how you want to handle your finances. Or if one spouse is committing adultery or a compulsive liar, having joint accounts may not be a wise idea until trust is restored.
You may need a financial counselor, Christian mentor, and/or medical help depending on your situation.
I like the idea of spouses sharing joint accounts. To me, it contributes to the sense of unity and oneness, knowing that whatever money we each make, it is “ours,” not “mine and yours.”
Share
If you and your husband have a great method for handling the money, we’d love to hear about it!
Related Posts
Money and the Ugly Truth – by Kayla
What Is the Best Way to Handle the Finances?
Another Wife Shares About Finances and Trust
Resources
Dave Ramsey has courses to help you find financial peace that may be a blessing to your marriage and finances that I invite you to check out.
What Does the Bible Say about Managing Your Finances? by www.gotquestions.org
My husband and I disagree on a lot of things, but this is one area- Praise the Lord, has not been an issue. We both work full time. At times money has been tight & other times it has not been a problem. What has worked very well for us, is a joint account. On pay day we each get X amount to spend on whatever we want, no questions asked (given of course it’s not on drugs or other women/men). All else is used for bills, savings, house projects, etc… This has helped us enjoy the fruits of our labor, but also use our resources wisely.
Jessica Zuroske,
Thanks so much for sharing! Marriage can be very difficult with two people who have entirely different perspectives and ideas. I’m so thankful this works well for you. I also like hearing about your plan to have a certain amount of spending money for each of you.
Blessings!
At the start of our marriage, hubby and I earned the same so we split our bills so each of us took care of different monthly items. He paid the mortgage, I paid the utilities and food. We each handled our own car and credit card payment. This worked beautifully for a number of years.
As an unexpected disability hit me, my income was drastically reduced and a new negotiation was needed. Hubby took care of everything for a while. While he was fine with the finances he felt bogged down with the paperwork. So we arranged for the bank to transfer the amount of our monthly bills into my account from his, and from there I handle paying everything. I do have a small income and so purchase food and pay my own credit card bills, and just pay out the other bills out of my account with money transferred from his.
He has the burden of paperwork lifted from his shoulders. The only bill he handles is his credit card. Keeping separate accounts has worked for us for a long time. Neither feels like we need to give account for our spending. Both of us are really responsible with money and we also set an amount over which we need to consult with the other.
There are times where he does take the lead though. After asking how much I have, if I have saved a bit he will transfer it back to his account and soon after I receive notification that my retirement account is funded. I love that he is looking out for me that way. (He also has his own retirement accounts.)
For us, separate accounts work. However, I think revisiting the agreement as necessary is the key to insuring continued satisfaction.
Happily gave up,
Thanks so much for sharing a bit of your story and the financial arrangement that works for you and your husband. <3
hi april,
Thank you so much for the post. i earn more than my husband. for the past years me and husband has been using separate accounts, just sharing the responsibilities. We don’t sit down and discuss the finances, we talk in passing, we don’t have any strategies to say what do we do if we have money left or there’s a shortage. This went on for long time until i was drowning in debts because i didn’t tell or consult my husband if i take decision. Right there i sat down with him and said i am not coping. He started being more involved .
But the issue with my husband is that he is a spender, he drinks(he spends a lot on it) to extend that he would borrow money from people or loan sharks and smokes. i am aware that he drinks a lot when there’s something stressing him out. after a long time of prayer, i received an answer to give my husband my salary. i suggested that and he agreed so i would transfer my salary to his account but we never sat down to discuss the finances. for that 3 months we had extra money due to bonuses so things were easy. He paid off everything and he was a very happy man, confident and he took care of me more i did. he took care of the family. But because i didn’t know where the surplus went for that 3 months and i felt we could have achieved something big with it. i withdrew transferring my salary to his account because there was no transparency and what’s even bad is that i stopped without telling him. Things got worse, we struggled and more fights because of money. I know the fact that he earns less is stressing him a lot and causes him to drink and when we fight (i am also aware that i have not won the battle of control so it’s also affecting him cuz he says i belittle and disrespect or likes to second guess him)
So recently we made a decision to try again with him adding notification for his bank account. this will addressed the issue of transparency. its been 2 months but things are not going well. we still don’t discuss finances or how we going to spend or use money on a monthly basis, my husband spends without planning and when the money is little or finished then that’s when he starts to realize or ask me what happened to this much yet we have notifications. i know he is one person who doesn’t open notification messages. he just spends. He hates to discuss money , he says it stresses him out. so i try not to talk about it but i find that he blames me at the end when its finished or we short of something. now I don’t know what to do. he was saying this is not working, he thinks we should stop, i asked him to give a trial of 6 months maybe and every month we check ourselves how was is it.
This month i have decided i am going to withdraw (cash) my salary and put in an envelope, take it to him and wait for him to direct me on how to spend it. I think it will be better because from his salary we pay the car and rent then its finished. the rest is done from my salary. I think this will open his eyes to see where the money goes and will give him control since i would want his directive on this. I will be quite and do as he says.
I think we should also see a financial advisor. i know my husband can do a good job and take us far. he is a problem solver and he has a good eye. God this so stressful to us.
Mathapelo,
Hello! I sent you an email. Did you receive it? <3