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Marriage and income.

Iwisallowed's picture

I make less than half my husband's income (40k vs 92k). He pays 35k a year in support (not including thousands extra in medical bills he pays 75%). 

How should we split finances? Right now we are only splitting housing. Been married 3 years. I'm starting to feel like he should be contributing more. 

 

Comments

Kes's picture

We pay bills etc proportionately according to the income we each have, which in practice means DH pays a lot more than me because I am retired and my income is much less, while he is still working.  

tog redux's picture

We have a joint account and each have a separate account. DH makes about 24k more than I do but he puts about $100 less into the joint account because of child support, health insurance, and a loan he's paying. From that account we buy all groceries and other joint expenses - mortgage, utilities, car stuff, house stuff, etc. Maybe you two should do something like that.- but you should put in less than he does. Except after CS and extras he's not making much more than you.
 

 

BethAnne's picture

This is what I did with an ex, I think it is the simplist method.

At the time we put equal amounts in each month (he made more than me but we split things equally). We paid rent, bills, groceries and put some extra to cover joint meals out, day trips or household goods etc.

This way you only have to do one calculation to decide what you will each put in every pay check/month rather than splitting every single bill or meal out.  If there is a big expense you two are saving for then you can choose to increase contributions for a while. The only down side of this is if either of you does not trust the other to spend the money as intended as technically either of you could empty the account at any time. 

Disneyfan's picture

The OP has a child that lives in the home full time.  Should her husband be expected to help support her "OOPS child"?

If your son wasn't involved, I would say your husband should be contributing more.  But your child changes things a bit.  You and your son's father should be covering all of your son's expenses.   Your son is in the home full time.  Aren't you the poster who said your SKs only come one weekend a month and on holidays?  If so, paying based solely on income isn't fair.  

Just as you shouldn't be expected to subsidize his kids, he should be tasked with subsidizing yours.

If I were in your shoes, I would ask my husband to cover all expenses for a short amount of time.  During that time I would return to school full-time to earn whatever degrees I needed to increase my earning potential.

 

beebeel's picture

That completely depends on whether the house they have is much larger than she would need if it were just her and her son. If the Sks each have their own rooms, he should be paying 3/5 of housing while she pays 2/5. Internet and utilities should be 50/50. Groceries could be argued 40/60 in his favor, but he's barely contributing at all toward that right now.

Iwisallowed's picture

Except I am paying for a house that has to be big enough for all of his children. I would only need a two bedroom and again, I get $200 a month in child support. So not sure how he's paying for "my" child. Besides the $200 bucks no one pays for my child except me. 

Iwisallowed's picture

I don't understand the logic of you always attacking my kid. I pay for my kid. That isn't the issue. I believe I should only pay 30% of my income towards housing and he should pay 30% of it and it be adjusted down accordingly since him paying 30% would be more than the mortgage. I also have already told you I am in college and work full time so not sure why that keeps coming up. He didn't graduate college. 

lieutenant_dad's picture

Together, you make $132,000. Of that, 30% is your income. Therefore, you pay 30% of the household expenses. If you want to take out CS, which I advise against, it's about 40%.

I'm assuming that since your DH makes more than you, you have a higher standard of living than you would if you were on your own. It's not fair to expect you to pay more than or equal to what your DH would for a standard of living that you cannot obtain on your own.

I like having a "yours, mine, and ours" system for money. "Ours" are any bills and savings we need for things that we mutually benefit from. That would include rent/mortgage, utilities, internet, cell phones on a shared plan, shared vehicles if you co-own them, shared credit card debt, and emergency household savings to pay for 3-6 months worth of JOINT expenses in the event one or both of you find yourselves jobless. Other joint expenses or savings can be negotiated here, such as a vacation or home remodeling fund.

Then, any money leftover is "yours/mine". That's what is used to pay individual debts or bills for items you SOLELY own or use, play money, retirement, personal savings, and, yes, CS and other kid-related expenses.

If your DH doesn't have the funds to pay for HIS portion of household expenses, then you two need to discuss a lower standard of living or he needs to consider a second job. He could also consider looking for a reduction in CS since he seems to be being taken to the cleaners (unless he has a gaggle of kids) since he's paying more than 30% of his gross income plus 75% of medical expenses. A downward adjustment might be called for.

If he wants a better standard of living for his kids in his household, then HE has to provide it. It's not your responsibility to supplement his shortfalls.

ETA: This does get slightly more complicated if you have a child in the home FT that isn't your DH's. In that case, you need to adjust your income based on the amount of CS you SHOULD be receiving. If your ex isn't paying CS, it's not your DH's responsibility to make up that shortfall for your kid. That means you may need to take your ex to court or get a second job to make up that lost income for your son.

Thefatherismyfamily's picture

Don't pay for more than your fair share. If he can't afford his share then it's time to downsize. 

BethAnne's picture

He should look into getting his child support order(s) reviewed. That is a crazy amount to pay.