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DINKS again!

Nothing feels quite as sweet as returning to being a two-income household.

I love it. He loves it. It’s not the most stimulating of work, but the culture is great, the boss goes above and beyond, and (touch wood) the plan is a fast track to a much more advanced position. The hours are long, so even though he’s not making quite as much as he once did, it evens out. There’s opportunity for more OT, and unlike when he worked as a fabricator, it doesn’t seem that if you work one extra Saturday morning, they’ll milk you for more and more and more until you collapse from exhaustion.

So for the first time ever, we’re both saving regularly, paying ourselves first. He’s spending more than I think if necessary on, well, stuff (I have no idea what) but the whole idea of blow money is that he can buy whatever he wants and I don’t judge. And he’s handling that from his own account – also a first. I’m having to restrain myself from clucking over itΒ  and checking in like a mother hen – as long as he doesn’t overdraft (or ideally, dip below $100), it’s his domain.

Our money is not, and never has been, fully merged. I imagine once we’re married we will, but for now, our savings are separate due to the disparity.

Instead, he’s contributing a percentage to our household expenses, enabling me to up the amount I’m saving. So far, it seems the easiest way is to reduce the amount I’ve been putting toward all our bills by his contribution. In effect, basically funneling it straight into my saving account. After all, I’ve been covering everything on my own up till now, so anything he puts in basically equals how much extra I can save.

It’s a little scary for me, relinquishing total control. After all, the last time he had free rein over a bank account, he ended up nearly $1000 in the hole. I imagine it’s a little like letting your child ride a bike, or watching them learn to walk for the first time. Seeing them off to kindy on the first day. Wish us luck!

11 thoughts on “DINKS again!

  • Reply The Everyday Minimalist September 10, 2010 at 23:58

    Good luck! πŸ™‚

    I think it’s great he got a job (congrats!) that seems to fit with your lifestyle more, in the sense that OT is allowed.

    I too, would feel nervous letting someone have free rein over their accounts without checking on them… but do you think you’ll do a 3-month healthy finance checkup with him?

    Or maybe sit down and go through the budget, and look at the numbers one by one and see where you can drop/increase them and so on?

    *loves budgeting so much…* LOL

    • Reply eemusings September 11, 2010 at 01:12

      Definitely! Maybe more like once a month. I’m a bit of a control freak, especially when it comes to finances. TBH, he’s already gone a bit over budget, but at least there was a buffer there to absorb it. He says if I print out my monthly graph/breakdown he’ll actually look at them, so I’ll start doing that from now πŸ˜€

  • Reply danablair September 11, 2010 at 00:42

    Woohoo! Two income households are amaaaaazing. It’s definitely taken a huge burden off me sine my boyfriend moved in. Congrats on saving! Saving is nice. I’m starting to get back to that.

  • Reply Financial Samurai September 11, 2010 at 01:17

    Congrats! That must be a wonderful feeling indeed! Everything is relative, and now you guys have BIG BUCKS! πŸ™‚

  • Reply Amber from Girl with the Red Hair September 11, 2010 at 05:16

    That’s EXACTLY how me and Eric handle our finances. Totally separate and he gives me cash for household expenses. I do NOT look at his account anymore, it used to be the source of far too many fights between us. After 5.5 years I’ve finally accepted the fact that his money is his money and if he wants to blow it on “stuff” so be it!

  • Reply Serendipity September 11, 2010 at 13:45

    Yay! Congrats on the cool new dink status!

  • Reply Serendipity September 11, 2010 at 13:46

    Oh and monthly checkups might be helpful to see progress and just to make sure. I remember back in the day when I was terribly at money Rambo set me down and wanted to talk about a ” budget” Now, I’m telling him all about my new budget and savings goals……

  • Reply unknowntheartist September 11, 2010 at 16:09

    So, I was wondering… do you have to claim defacto in NZ?
    In OZ, we are supposed to but my other half and I have not claimed it so.
    What are your thoughts on sharing to that extent, like a public declaration the government?
    My only worry in claiming it is that while I love sharing with my other half, I don’t want either of our hard earned money to be cut by any amount because the government thinks we should hand them over more.

    • Reply eemusings September 11, 2010 at 16:55

      Sorry, I’m not sure I understand your question.

      Do you mean, if he applied for unemployment, does he disclose he’s living with a partner?

  • Reply unknowntheartist September 12, 2010 at 13:28

    Yeah, I think that’s what I mean.
    But moreso, when it comes to tax time- there is a section on Australian tax forms where you have to claim if you are in a defacto relationship (living with partner, unmarried). If you do say you are in a defacto r’ship, you suddenly get taxed more because it is seen as a two income household, regardless of whether both are working or one is and one is not.
    I was just wondering if NZ tax law is similar to OZ tax law when it comes to relationships.
    In short, I don’t like this particular law because we both make our money as individuals yet the government says if we want to be together, we have to take a hit on our income by paying more tax.
    Do you have a take on this?

    • Reply eemusings September 12, 2010 at 14:10

      Ah, okay. I have no idea how your tax system works, but here, if you’re just a regular ol employee, I think it’s pretty basic. I request my summary of earnings for the year and if I’m owed tax, I’ll get it back. Which is usually the case.

      So…is the tax rate HIGHER for a two-income household? Ie, instead of you both being taxed, say, 21 per cent, you would be charged 25 (throwing random numbers out there) and have to square it up with the govt?

      One of our MPs is trying to get an income-splitting bill in (http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4028895/Income-splitting-favours-wealthy); I’m not exactly sure how it works exactly as I’m not a parent and it wouldn’t affect me. He wants to ease the tax burden for dual-income families.

      I definitely don’t think relationship status should have any bearing on tax whatsoever. I think offhand in the States it does too, though.

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