How to Budget as a Couple

Openly talking about money can be difficult — but it's also key to a healthy long-term relationship. And once you begin building your lives together, having a shared budget can prevent (or at least ease) any tension about money you may face down the road.

But where do you even begin? Joint budgeting can look much different than budgeting for yourself, and it’s something that requires learning, love, and compromise. Don’t worry though; we're here to help you on this journey. 

Start by assessing your situation 

• The basics: Look at income and expenses. You need to know what money is coming in and what is going out. The simplest way to do it? Look back on your bank statements (transaction history) together and add up your incomes and expenses by category. (Or, even better: Use Origin.)

• Evaluate how you’re currently tracking money: Even without a formal budget, you’re somehow tracking money, even if it’s just by checking your account balance. Take note of what you’re currently doing to track your money as an individual and a couple.

• Be transparent and open: Keeping money secrets can be detrimental. Make sure everything is out in the open— be honest and open as you’re both learning about your joint relationship with money. 

🔑 Top tip: Origin’s spending feature is the simplest, most impactful way to track your spending together. You can add a partner to Origin at no additional cost to jointly budget and track expenses. 

Set financial goals together

After assessing your current state, identify where you want to go from here.

Set specific financial targets you want to reach and make sure you’re both on the same page. Maybe your first goal is building an emergency fund, maybe it’s buying a home, or getting financially set to have children. Whatever your goals may be, discover them together — and write them down somewhere.

It might take some time to arrive at the point where both your goals are aligned; that's OK. Having multiple, thorough conversations about finances fosters ongoing honesty.

Some guiding questions:

• “What does financial freedom and financial success look like to you?”

• “How do you feel about debt? How soon do you want this paid off?” 

• “Do you see yourself being a homeowner? Is this the location where we want to settle down?”

• “Where do you see yourself in five years? 10 years? 20 years?” 

For example, let’s say that the two of you have $50,000 in total student loan debt. You might decide that your number one goal is to pay off that debt over the next 3 years. Once you’re aligned on the end goal, now you can collaborate on the strategy. Evaluate your income and expenses and decide how much you’ll dedicate to paying down that debt each month. 

Create a joint budget 

Now it’s time to make a joint budget that helps you work towards those goals — and also helps you navigate everyday expenses without having to check in about each one. Remember, through all these steps, it’s better to over-communicate than under-communicate.

• First, choose a budgeting method that works for you both. Whether it’s a 50/30/20, a zero-based budget, or a pay-yourself-first budget, what matters most is that you align on one budgeting strategy together.

• Collaborate on categories: A common point of contention among couples is disagreements on how much should be spent where. They say $500 on groceries, and you say $350 — who’s right? Neither, what’s important is that you come together on a set amount you can both agree to, which may involve compromise on both sides. It might take a little bit of time (and spending) to nail down a realistic budgeting number. 

• Joint accounts can make joint budgeting easier. “The easiest way to create and manage a joint budget is to have both partner's incomes go into a joint account and pay all expenses from that account. Then, the specific budgetary methodology can be whatever you agree on! Whether that's 50/30/20, FIRE savings strategy, or just a loose structure of fixed costs vs variable expenses,” according to an Origin financial planners. Some couples may want to only share joint expenses like utilities and groceries and will want the remaining income to be controlled at the individual level. This can be most easily handled by having a joint account and two individual accounts. 

Managing debt and savings as a couple 

One of the most difficult parts of budgeting is deciding how to balance saving and paying off debt — which should come first?

• A general rule of thumb: You should aim to establish an emergency fund as a couple of a minimum of $1,000 before using extra money to pay off debt. This might sound counterintuitive, but it prevents you from taking on even more debt in the event of an unforeseen expense. 

• From there, you can begin dividing up your extra income across different fronts. For example, $20,000 of credit card debt that’s tagged with a 29% APR should help you get more of your extra cash than a credit card with a 0% introductory APR.

• The most important part? Align on your strategy. Come together as a couple and outline your playbook — for example: building an emergency fund and committing $X amount to debt until it’s gone, and so on.

Revisit your budget 

A budget isn’t a set-and-forget system — it’s something that you should review as a couple quite often, making adjustments as both your life and your money evolve.

• Set up regular check-ins: Just like relationships require communication, so does your budget. Schedule regular check-ins monthly or quarterly to review your financial progress together. (We recommend putting this in your calendar or planner, so you can't forget it.)

• Adjust goals as needed: When you encounter unexpected expenses or if your income increases, revisit and adjust your goals accordingly. This ensures that your budget remains realistic and achievable.

• Actively track spending together: Make use of the Spending feature on Origin to get a quick breakdown of how you’re pacing each month. Tracking your expenses not only helps you stay within budget but also promotes transparency. 

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