one account, on line bills paid anytime I schedule it, AMEX only except for gas since we get purchase rebates, I do not go shopping for STUFF, no worries


Matt wouldn't know a check book if it hit him in the face

 

^^ Gene we have a credit union account, but sadly here where we live, the credit union is not as large and comprehensive as yours. We DO have our savings account with the credit union.
As to the issue of why folks have separate accounts, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with trust or what's mine is mine, etc. It has to do with an ease of bookkeeping. Money has never been something that we've ever argued about. We are quite open and discuss expenditures freely. We both know exactly what we owe, what we have and before planning ANY type of thing requiring funding of any kind, we both know all about it and have discussed it fully.

 

I had a joint account with my ex, but would probably not do it with the +1 if we ever tie the knot. My business affairs are mine and his are his, unless we invest in something jointly. So far we haven't. Not even sure we would file taxes jointly. We'll discuss that if and when we get that far. So to answer your next question - we aren't going to Vegas yet!

Val, are you saying that it takes five days to transfer funds from your checking account for an online payment??? That makes absolutely no sense to me. Please explain further. I use autopay or online payment for just about everything, and seldom write a check anymore. The longest it should take is the next business day if you make the transaction after a certain hour.

 

Rick is almost in that category, but not quite. He's in the "you do it, I can't be bothered, I have to wax a car" category. I remind him now and again where everything is, in the event that he has to go looking for something, and I keep a current list as well.

Our former neighbor suddenly became seriously ill, his wife had no idea where things were, or what was what, when it was time to pay the bills.

 

^^ That's what it takes. I thought it would simply be easier than making a withdrawal from the bank, a deposit into MY account, etc. (since I generally pay the bills) if I used the online bp from the joint account instead of through MY account. My bank only takes one day to pay anything.
I've never used the billpay on the joint account even though we've had that account for many years. Generally if either of us needs any extra money or we make big purchases, etc., we just withdraw the funds in cash (or bank check). We're making a couple of fairly charge purchases, so I decided to activate the billpay feature and that's when I discovered it takes 5 days for the bank to pay bills. The joint account is a money market account where my checking account is just a normal checking account. I wonder if that makes a difference?

 

[QUOTE=Lainey,Apr 29 2009, 07:45 AM]

Our former neighbor suddenly became seriously ill, his wife had no idea where things were, or what was what, when it was time to pay the bills.

 

I know little about the 401k except where it is. We have only one credit card together and all the rest are separate, but we never run up big charges and pay them monthly so I'm not too worried about those. He doesn't use the internet for things the way I do. Guess I'd better print a list.

 

I still get paper mail, statements and bills from people we may owe money to. Rick would be a paper kind of guy if he had to assume the responsibility for bill paying/finances.

I only have two items which are paid directly from the checking account. Everything else shows up in the mail, and I keep a current list of accounts as well.

 

^^ All of our bills except the water bill come directly to my bank and I direct the bank when/how much, etc. to pay. You have NO idea how I wish the water bill came directly to the bank. With our being away from home so much, it would make things so much easier. Believe it or not, the city will not even forward the mail to my SC house, so I have to make a note to call them mid-month to get the amount to pay.

 

That's Nadine and me. She pays all of our bills online from our joint account. I live off of AMEX and rarely carry cash. BTW, what the hell is a checkbook?

The only account I have separately is my business account.