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Couples Are Combining Their Finances Early On. Here’s How to Do It
Call it love at first sight. Call it pure pragmatism. Whatever the reason, a lot of new couples these days are sharing their finances relatively early in the relationship. By that, we mean they’re sharing a credit card or a bank account with a debit card.
We conducted a survey of 1,000 Americans a few weeks ago, and it found that 47% of couples who share their finances do so within six months after they started dating.
That’s nearly half of all couples who end up sharing their finances! After only half a year of dating, these couples decided they were ready to mingle their money.
Given that a lot of people are doing this, we got to wondering: What’s the best way to do this? What are some things you do when you’re merging your finances with your partner’s? We’ve got answers.
Our survey asked this question: “How long into your relationship did you start sharing a credit card/debit card/bank account with your romantic partner?”
Here are the results:
Here at The Penny Hoarder, we’ve got a whole article on how to budget as a couple and stop fighting about money. We’re going to boil down a few of that article’s points here.
It’s not news that most fights in a relationship have something to do with money. It happens when the people in the relationship aren’t on the same page and have different attitudes toward money.
Talking about money early and often in a relationship can help you make sure you’re working together, rather than against each other, and prevent future fights.
Here’s how to talk to your significant other about money:
Getting the discussion above started is the first step, but how does it really work on a day-to-day basis? How do you figure it all out together? Here are some practical strategies to help you start a budget with your significant other:
Gather your past few months of statements, bills, pay stubs and other financial documents. You’ll want to see where your money has been going to get an idea of where it needs to go in the future. Make sure to account for:
Methodology: The Penny Hoarder used Pollfish to conduct a national survey of 1,000 people about Americans’ financial habits in late January 2023. Survey responses are weighted so that each response is representative of the U.S. population.
Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
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