Do you have housekeeping money?

Since DH had a stroke in 2010 I have all the money.

If he needs anything he asks me. Oh, the power

Seriously though. We've always shared everything. My mother had a housekeeping allowance because that's what they did in the fifties. Once we were all at school she went back to teaching music. I presume she had some money of her own then but I never asked.

No, absolutely not! We both work and our salaries go into a joint account that we both access. I would hate to rely on another adult for money as my granny (and my mum to a lesser extent) did.

I've never had housekeeping money and haven't worked outside the home since we got married. I have access to all of the bank accounts. We are a team and both work in the best interests of our team.

My mother did all the admin for my father's business and was responsible for household finances. I think in those days women had more control than we imagine.
We have a joint account and our own accounts as well. My husband does all the shopping and cooking so I don't need a housekeeping allowance.

No, never. I've always earned my own money. When I got married, we briefly had a joint account, but he was such an idiot with money, I quickly learned my lesson and we got separate accounts. He'd run up debts, but in his name only.

We used to go halves on bills and the mortgage.

I don't know how you had one Calendargirl but I had one too but it had to be countersigned when I opened it. I think that was done by my father. Maybe some banks allowed it before they had to in law.

To open her own bank account in the good old days, a woman needed to be 'recommended' by a man. So a married woman needed what amounted to the permission of her husband. For a young woman it would be her father. It was in my case I remember.

When we were first married (1962) and saving hard for a deposit on a house we had a joint account but DH drew out £5 in new 10/- notes which had to do for the week. It was quite a struggle but we had saved the deposit on a new house in less than a year and celebrated our first wedding anniversary sitting on the carpet in the new house and eating a doughnut each from Betty’s.

For many years we have each had our own account and paid into the joint (housekeeping) account in proportion to what we were earning, and this pattern persists. We never argue about money although we have very different attitudes. It must be awful to disagree about something so important.

I had to have a bank account when I started work in 1953 (I was 16) as we were paid by cheque by the City Council.

Yes, I have housekeeping money which comes out of our joint account. This way I can pay with cash and keep track of what I spend. I can have more if I need it and I keep a reserve to draw upon in a separate place in my bag and a card as well but this method, for us, suits us the best. I am 78 so perhaps I have an established method which suits.

I was wondering too CALENDARGIRL. I'm certain I had one in 1971/2.

BTW I had my own current a/c from 1967 until just after I got married several years later.
When I informed the bank of my change of name, they insisted on knowing my husband’s full name, and his occupation.

I was sufficiently annoyed to close the account, and have myself added to dh’s a/c, with a different bank. We’ve had a joint a/c ever since.

That brings back memories Callistemon! I’d forgotten about that.

I didn’t realise how modern my parents were! They had a joint account and my mother had her own cheque book. My husband and I did the same.

No, our money has always been joint.
My own parents were the same.
However my mother (b. 1918) had a good friend the same age, who was always given her housekeeping money in cash, never paid a bill, never even wrote a cheque, and was consequently rather thrown in the deep end after her husband died.

Funny thing was, she’d had a good, responsible job before marriage/children, so it’s not as if she wasn’t capable. I don’t think her husband was at all a control freak type, either.

My mother could never understand the mentality at all.

GGMK3

Your post confused me. I opened a current account in my own name when I started work in 1969. Do you mean married women couldn’t until 1975?

My mam was always in charge of all the finances when I grew up. My dad always handed her his unopened pay packet. He was given his pocket money. Both my DH and myself have our own wages and the bills are paid between us. Thank goodness those days are gone.

It's really all down to the changes toward equality. If you think that it wasn't until 1975 and the Sex Discrimination Act that a British woman could open a bank account in her own name it's easy to see why now, when both partners earn, have their own bank account and work out how they split the bills between them we have moved on to happier times.

I never have, we had our salaries paid into a joint account and did the shopping together. These days all the money is mine.
I think my dad handed over pretty much everything, just keeping a bit for petrol and tobacco etc. I think mum held the purse strings.

No.
However, years ago before everyone had bank accounts, the Forces used to make an 'allotment' out of servicemen's pay for the wives, which was in the form of a Post Office book, like the old Child Benefit book.
It ensured that there was a steady weekly amount for the wives and children if the serviceman was overseas.

We had a joint account but not everyone did
I also had my own!

My dear old Mum had to keep a notebook in which to note all household expenditure, then Dad would write down what he'd spent and at the end of the week he added it up. In the early 50s Mum got fed up with this and started taking part time jobs for pin money. She worked her way up to a full time career and divorced my Dad!

Always had a joint bank account - even if there wasn't much in it!

Some years ago I worked with a woman (in her 20s) whose husband would give her a set amount every morning with which to buy something for the evening meal and any household items needed - if anything was left over she could use it to buy herself lunch! It got to the point that the rest of us in the office would take it in turns to "accidentally" buy too much lunch and share it with her. Not a situation I could have lived with.

No. We have a joint account, but I have always had my own account that my own salary went into.

I've never had housekeeping money (I'm 60, been married almost 40yrs). We've got a joint bank account, so both wages go into it. I do the shopping and have set up all the DirectDebits I get cash out when I need it - so does he, occasionally.

My mum had housekeeping money but didn't have a bank account.

Good grief, no. We both have access to the joint account and always have had. I don't see how it would work in today's society anyway. I only use cash for charity collections and tips now that we can even pay contactless on the bus.

My dad used to hand over his pay packet every Friday as he walked through the door, lemongrove, and get his "pocket money" doled out to him. He was a miner, and I think that was the usual routine in the pits. It was entirely up to my mother what she did with the rest.