My husband and I didn’t live together before we got married, but there was enough of a wake up call after we got married, that I realized there were plenty of financial things I wish we would have discussed previously.

You may think that figuring out how to pay the rent and utility bills is the only financial aspect you’ll have to worry about, but there is usually a lot more financial aspects involved when you begin to cohabitate.

Paying the Bills

Paying the rent may be the no-brainer—just split it down the middle, right?

But what if one partner makes significantly more than the other partner? Perhaps you’re the breadwinner in the relationship and you’re thinking that it just makes things easier to split all bills 50-50. But what if you make 70% of the income, and your partner makes 30%? Perhaps they’re coming into the situation thinking they’ll only be responsible for 30% of the rent and bills. It’s great to just do a little check-in to make sure you’re both on the same page and aren’t assuming anything.

Divying up the Groceries

Splitting the bills and utilities may be easy. Even gas-since you most likely each pay to fill up your own vehicles. But what about groceries?

In most cases, you’re grocery shopping for two. And that includes all household supplies that you both also take advantage of. While it may be easy to say you’ll take turns, it can be easy to build up resentment if one of you gets set in a routine of shopping on your way home from work, and the other one simply eats whatever is around.

Combined purchases?

In addition to groceries and household supplies, what about the big ticket items that you purchase together as a couple? Like the couch, or the 50 inch flat screen TV. If you split the cost, then you’ll just need to figure out how to split it if the union doesn’t work out.

Who pays for dinner?

Now that you’re sharing everything else, does it make sense for only one of you to pay for your outings together? Will you take turns picking up the tab?

As you switch from dating to living together, a lot of these financial things come up and it’s just best to figure out how you plan on handling these events so as to avoid any awkward moments when the check shows up on the table.

Emergency funds

You may think that saving on your own is the best option should anything arise in the house that needs fixing, you can each pay your share right? But are you sure that your partner is saving enough to cover their share?

Make sure you both know that the other partner is financially sound rather than assume they’re on the same page as you.