charlie@cca.UUCP (Charlie Kaufman) (11/18/83)
The discussion of handling finances in a marriage seems to be breaking
down into two schools. The "one pot" school and the "two pot" school.
It would seem that both systems have serious problems.
The two pot school must negotiate which expenses are shared and which
are separate. Many are clear, but what about things which one person
owns, both use, and which wear out. Like furniture, appliances, etc.
And is such a scheme workable when one person has much greater income
than the other - e.g. one person has none.
The one pot school would seem to require constant negotiation. Do you
ask permission for every purchase of a non-shared good? If the budget
is tight, who has to cut back? How is it monitored?
In the past, my wife and I have used the one pot system. As long as
income outran expenses by a safe margin, everything was easy. Anything
neither one of us managed to spend went into joint savings. But as the
decisions become less "buy X or save" and more "buy X or buy Y",
negotiations became more frequent and more difficult.
How do other couples decide how much to save and how much to spend on
their separate interests?
--Charlie Kaufman
charlie@cca
...decvax!cca!charlie