When we first met, I made significantly more money than my husband, but that situation changed when we started having kids. It made the most sense for me to stay home with them, so I did, and my husband started a consulting business and his income increased substantially.
As with all things economic, the relative income brackets in a marriage are not likely to remain set in stone over the lifetime of the marriage, especially if you have children. That’s something for everyone to keep in mind.
We have always pooled our money, all of it except what’s going into our retirement accounts. And we’ve always talked about long-term and short-term goals. We’re comfortable enough that we can buy pretty much whatever we want, but then again, neither one of us is spendy. If either wants a big ticket item, that would come up for discussion. Sometimes we may have to delay a purchase, sometimes we decide we just don’t need it after all, and sometimes we go ahead and spend the money. But we make these decisions as a couple because that’s what couples should do. We trust each other.
