How To Manage Finances When Moving In Together

When Rachael and I first moved in together, I was psyched to figure out how we would manage shared expenses. I’m a bit of a personal finance nerd, so it was an interesting project for me. But most people don’t get a thrill from personal finance.

The idea of managing finances with the person they love gives them anxiety. So instead of tackling the problem head-on, they default to splitting any and all expenses evenly using Venmo or Zelle; which sounds like a good solution, but often creates tension in the relationship. Not to mention, it also takes a lot of time to split every, single, expense.

There’s a better way to manage finances with your partner that doesn’t involve Venmo requests. Rachael and I have been living together for two years and have never fought over finances.

Here’s a 5 step process for managing finances with your partner that will save you time (and possibly your relationship):

1 — Create a budget with shared expenses: This includes rent, utilities, groceries, pet-related expenses, and internet. Creating a budget is important because it creates a shared understanding of expenses and how those expenses will be paid for.

2 — Open a joint checking account: This account will hold all the money you two will use to pay for shared expenses. We use Ally Bank for this because it has low fees and no minimum balance rules.

3 — Open a credit card and make one an authorized user: You will use this credit card to pay for utilities that don’t require a check. I’d recommend choosing a travel credit card. We’ve used our points to go on a couple of free vacations.

4 — Schedule automatic transfers from your personal checking to your joint checking: Every time either of you is paid, you should schedule automatic transfers from your personal checking accounts to your joint account. This will ensure you have enough cash to cover your shared expenses.

5 — Schedule automatic payments for your shared expenses: Once there is money in your joint account, schedule automatic payments to cover your shared expenses.

This system has saved us hundreds of hours that would have been spent splitting bills and stressing over finances. It takes a couple of days to set up, but once it’s going, you’ll rarely have to worry about your shared finances ever again.