I Paid Last Time, It's Your Turn
Tulix Team
In relationships, it can be really tempting to “rock-paper-scissors” your way through decisions on who pays for what every month.
And when you actually start looking at the money required to keep the relationship going it can feel like you’re somehow diluting the romance.
But what if you could co-create a money management plan to smoothen the day-to-day running of your household?
Here are three different bill-splitting scenarios and how Tulix Jars can help.
Percentages for the Win
There are three expense categories where shared Jars would be useful for Chizz and his partner: utilities (fuel, electricity & water), rent and food.
Chizz can indicate a maximum budgeted amount for each Jar and invite his partner to join the Jar so they can load it every month with their agreed amounts.
Once the money’s in a Jar, Chizz and his partner can each pay for their different needs on the go even while apart.
On the other hand, they can create one Merchant Jar for all shared expenses and tie it to up to 10 different places they shop at regularly.
Let’s talk groceries - an Open Jar is perfect for this because they can both make payments to many different places as is the case with food (beyond the meat he buys).
We all know how easy it is to use money meant for other things to pay for food on the go.
Out with Joint Accounts, In with Shared Jars
Someone described marriage as “a life pooling exercise for the purpose of splitting responsibility” and in @chisylvie’s household, this sounds accurate.
It’s not about who’s doing what but about distributing cash so that everything is taken care of.
This is where an Open Jar comes in handy because Chisylvie and her husband can both load their shared jar and make payments to any merchant.
They can also track exactly how much they’re spending on different expenses like groceries and fuel by tagging expense categories each time they make a payment.
Over time, their monthly analytics on Tulix will help them decide when to adjust the percentage they put aside upwards or downwards.
In a nutshell, think of an Open Jar like a temporary joint account that you can all spend from without detailed paperwork (or a maintenance fee).
There’s Ours and There’s Mine
Keeping up with the “life pooling exercise” theory, six shared Jars are an option here:
- A Merchant Jar for rent and utilities because these bills are usually fixed amounts with recurring pubDates (luckily you can automate such payments on Tulix).
- Two separate Goal Jars for savings and emergencies where their money can earn interest while remaining available if a need should arise.
- Three separate Open Jars for:
- Food: so each person can shop anywhere anytime while staying within the budget.
- Kids: plan for big and small purchases like school fees and clothes.
- Fun: take-out, road trips, hikes, birthdays, a vacation you name it. If it makes the family happy, money for it goes into this Jar.
And yes, you still get to buy whatever you want even when you’re in a relationship. Just apply the same bill-splitting principles to your finances and make the Jars work for you.
Communication Is the Name of the Game
And Jars can take the awkwardness out of money conversations.
No need to keep calling each other to ask for a top up or to confirm what that notification text from the bank was about.
All you need to know is right there in your Jar.
It’s easy to suggest different ways of splitting expenses but each couple is different so keep sharing your expectations with your partner.
A little bit of trial and error and a lot of respect will help you find your sweet spot.
Learn more about Tulix Jars here.