Couples budgeting · Option 3

Proportional contributions

Each of you keeps your own paycheque and pays your share of the household bills into a joint account. Whatever is left is yours.

How it works

Add up the bills you share: the mortgage or rent, utilities, insurance, groceries, the car. Then split the total between you, either 50/50 or in proportion to income. Each payday, you both move your share into a joint account, and the shared bills come out of it. Everything else, including your personal savings, stays in your own account.

Splitting by income keeps things fair when one of you earns more. Alex earns $4,500 a month and Sam earns $3,000, so Alex brings in 60% of the household income and covers 60% of their $4,000 in shared bills: $2,400 to Sam's $1,600.

Is it right for you?

It suits couples who want the shared bills covered fairly but prefer to keep most of their money separate, for example early in a relationship or when combining finances later in life. Each of you decides on your own savings and spending.

We recommend Option 1, where all income is pooled, so you plan savings and goals as a team and live at the same standard whoever earns more.

Putting it together: Alex and Sam in Dollero

Here's how Alex and Sam set this up in Dollero: one shared Household budget for the bills they split, and a personal budget each where their paycheque lands.

  1. Create a shared Household budget

    Open the app menu and choose New Budget. Name it Household and set the type to Shared, then add your joint account to it. Then invite your partner from Household Members in the same menu. You each sign in with your own login, on your own devices.

    The Create Budget Profile window with the name Household, currency CAD and the budget type set to Shared

  2. Create a personal budget for each of you

    Each partner creates a Personal budget with their own chequing account, here Alex's Chequing and Sam's Chequing. Turn on Mask this budget if you'd rather your partner didn't see the details.

    The Create Budget Profile window with the name Alex's Budget, the budget type set to Personal and Mask this budget turned on

  3. Your paycheque lands in your own budget

    Alex's paycheque goes into Alex's Chequing, in Alex's Budget, and so does every personal purchase. Sam's does the same in Sam's Budget.

    Alex's Chequing in Alex's Budget, with Alex's paycheques from Northwind Logistics, personal purchases and two Household contribution transfers

  4. Budget your share first

    In your personal budget, give your contribution a category of its own, Household Contribution, and fund it before anything else. Alex budgets $2,400, then plans the other $2,100 across savings, a phone bill and fun money.

    Alex's budget for September: $2,400 to Household Contribution, then Savings, Bills and Fun Money, with $0.00 left to budget

  5. Send it to the Household budget

    Each payday, open your account and choose Add Transfer. Under To Account, the Transfer to other profiles group lists the accounts in your other budgets. Pick Household: Joint Chequing, take the money from Household Contribution, and send it to Income so it's ready to plan in the Household budget. Alex sends $1,200 each payday, and Sam sends $800.

    The completed Add Transfer window: $1,200 from Alex's Chequing to Household: Joint Chequing, from the Household Contribution category to Income

  6. See it arrive

    In the Household budget, the money shows up as Transfer from Alex's Budget and Transfer from Sam's Budget. Both budgets stay balanced.

    Joint Chequing on a phone, with $1,200 from Alex's Budget and $800 from Sam's Budget on September 15 among the shared bills

  7. Plan the shared bills together

    The Household budget holds only the $4,000 you both put in. Plan it across the shared bills until Available to budget reaches $0. Whatever you didn't contribute is yours to plan in your own budget.

    The Household budget for September: $4,000 budgeted across Mortgage, Utilities & Internet, Insurance, Groceries, Transportation and Car Loan, with $0.00 available to budget

Getting started this month

  1. Open a joint account for the shared bills.
  2. List your shared expenses and total them.
  3. Decide how to split them: 50/50, or by each person's share of income.
  4. In Dollero, create a shared Household budget and invite your partner, then each create a personal budget.
  5. Add a Household Contribution category to each personal budget, and transfer it to the Household budget each payday.
  6. Revisit the split whenever either of your incomes changes.

Your first few budgets won't be perfect, and that's fine. What matters is that the shared bills are covered and you both agree the split is fair.

The other options

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