How did/will your family share stimulus payments?

[Seasider too 9,147]

If you are married filing jointly, and received the first stimulus payment, did you and your dh share it evenly? Or did it just go into the family budget?

I realize this is a personal question. 

[corbster98 173]

Family budget. We do not keep seperate accounts.. Savings is where it was deposited. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by corbster98

[marbel 25,373]

All money is our money. but if someone wanted something in particular, we'd talk about it (depending on the cost). 

[teachermom2834 8,526]

Family budget. I don't think we've ever had our own funds on anything??? 

Not saying it is ideal but we married young and broke. There never was anything extra beyond the family budget so everything has always been joint. 

We haven't given the stimulus money to our kids at home- 17 and 12 yo. I know some people gave the money to the kids. That didn't occur to me.   The first round went to home repairs and the next will be something similar.

[katilac 24,703]

I wouldn't really say it went into the 'regular' family budget, because we didn't have any shortfalls to make up, but we combined it and talked about how to spend it. If we would have had very different thoughts, it's very possible we would have just each decided about our own portion. 

[perky 3,454]

Family budget.  It will zero out budget categories for the new year.  Then we will donate some to a couple organizations.

[gardenmom5 35,508]

dh and i share finances.  I never understand couples who don't.   I realize I'm "old" (married 38+ years), but even 2dd shares with her dh.  

eta: dh and I didn't receive a stimulus. (but when money comes in-  it's shared.  There isn't "his and hers")  to my knowledge two of my kids did.  (one who was laid off because the company all but shut down.  We'll see if it ever reopens.  I'm not holding my breath.)  and one who is still working.

Edited December 29, 2020 by gardenmom5

[TravelingChris 11,260]

We don't get it.  It doesn't make my fh mad but it sure does me.  I also can't get SS disability, we didn't get to claim college credit for our last  child who was our child we paid most for to go to college, etc. Rtc

[AmandaVT 6,190]

We gave a chunk to one of our church projects - once a month, our church takes over a laundromat and pays for everyone's laundry. We advertise to people in need and it is one of my favorite things our church does. The rest went into the family budget. 

[Nanax6 80]

We used it for materials and build a 20 by 20  deck.   

If we get another one we are saving it for another huge house project. 

[sassenach 13,547]

Family budget. This one is going to a vacation this summer. 

[katilac 24,703]

1 minute ago, gardenmom5 said:

dh and i share finances.  I never understand couples who don't.   I realize I'm "old" (married 38+ years), but even 2dd shares with her dh.  

I think it can make a lot of sense and eliminate a lot of arguments for people who disagree on the day-to-day spending of discretionary money. Even if it never rises to the level of arguing, lots of people don't want every expenditure to be up for discussion, and I can see the appeal of that. Some people combine everything except for an agreed-upon amount, others don't really combine anything but make agreements as to what each person will contribute to bills, savings, vacation funds, and so forth. It's not how we do it, but I think it can work very well. It's not necessarily an age thing, either; my parents are married 60+ years and don't share finances, they each have their 'own' money. 

1 minute ago, TravelingChris said:

We don't get it.  It doesn't make my fh mad but it sure does me.  I also can't get SS disability, we didn't get to claim college credit for our last  child who was our child we paid most for to go to college, etc. Rtc

Why not? Is it due to living overseas? 

[Katy 21,184]

Family budget. A few things we’d both been wanting we found on sale. Bigger emergency fund. 

[cjzimmer1 4,054]

Family budget. For use on projects that we both agree upon.

Edited December 29, 2020 by cjzimmer1

[vonfirmath 5,928]

20 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

If you are married filing jointly, and received the first stimulus payment, did you and your dh share it evenly? Or did it just go into the family budget?

I realize this is a personal question. 

Family budget.

We used the previous stimulus to sponsor some new kids and sent money for food to a mission in Honduras. And some teeth work.

This one will likely go to fixing our garage and some work on teeth.

[Joker2 302]

We gave it to our college kiddos (since they don’t get one and actually need it) and will do the same with this one. 

[FuzzyCatz 18,816]

Just goes into the pot.  Can’t imagine splitting it.  We’ve been lucky, hasn’t been a need here.  Probably ends up in savings.  Hope to budget some money for travel later 2021.  

Edited December 29, 2020 by FuzzyCatz

[Pawz4me 38,843]

We decided before we got married over thirty years ago that everything would be ours, not his or hers. I totally understand why others handle finances differently, but our way has always worked for us.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Pawz4me

[freesia 7,834]

Family budget.  The 20% more we spent in food pretty much zeroed it out.

[edelweiss 990]

We aren't eligible for it, but if we got it, it would just be put into our joint account.  We have never separated any of our funds.  

[athena1277 893]

Ours will go into the family budget.  Pay off some bills and make some repairs on our house.

[TravelingChris 11,260]

14 minutes ago, katilac said:

I think it can make a lot of sense and eliminate a lot of arguments for people who disagree on the day-to-day spending of discretionary money. Even if it never rises to the level of arguing, lots of people don't want every expenditure to be up for discussion, and I can see the appeal of that. Some people combine everything except for an agreed-upon amount, others don't really combine anything but make agreements as to what each person will contribute to bills, savings, vacation funds, and so forth. It's not how we do it, but I think it can work very well. It's not necessarily an age thing, either; my parents are married 60+ years and don't share finances, they each have their 'own' money. 

Why not? Is it due to living overseas? 

No.  Which part are you asking about?   For college tax credit it disappears at around the same time FAFSA says you should be paying almost 1/ of your income, i.e.  full price private college.  Stimulus disappears a bit earlier.  And I got disabled slowly and too young.  I may get some when I go legally blind. But with disability, it isn' just the money, it is the fact that most programs to help disabled in any way whatsoever, require SS disability

[Carrie12345 19,662]

The same way we do all our money, which I guess would be called the family budget.
There very well may be something that he wants or something that I want (I want to just hang on to some and donate some) and we’ll talk about that just like we would for any purchase beyond each of our individual spending budgets.

[hippymamato3 246]

Our income is too high for a stimulus check, but we share all money. There's no his/mine.

[hjffkj 20,881]

We decided what to do with it together.  The last check was split between our Roth IRAs, a few household projects, online courses for a few of the kids, and to local small businesses we want to support.  The next one will be distributed the same way.

[gardenmom5 35,508]

38 minutes ago, katilac said:

I think it can make a lot of sense and eliminate a lot of arguments for people who disagree on the day-to-day spending of discretionary money.  

We only consult for larger items.  We have budget categories and amounts - and within it we dont' consult each other on the spending.  we consult for larger items.   It does take an amount of self-control and respect for partners.   mil never let an empty checking account stop her writing checks.  That was just an inconvenience and she'd open a new credit card.

 

[Elizabeth86 2,791]

Last one, we spent all our money for dd's mouth full of cavities and anesthesia.  This time we plan to save it to put it toward a newer van because mine keeps breaking down.

[Frances 15,227]

It went into the regular family budget, as all things do. But we used most of it for charitable donations, such as to the local food bank, or donations to some local businesses who were hurt by the shutdown. We are fortunate to have not been financially effected by the pandemic.

[rebcoola 3,174]

Family budget into the saving for something fund.  This one will go to a new truck.

[Cnew02 823]

Part will go to getting a new xbox because I live with gamers.  Then the rest will let us accelerate the timeline on getting new couches. It sounds kind of his and hers, but it was discussed and decided together. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Cnew02

[Frances 15,227]

2 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

We don't get it.  It doesn't make my fh mad but it sure does me.  I also can't get SS disability, we didn't get to claim college credit for our last  child who was our child we paid most for to go to college, etc. Rtc

Is all of this because your income is too high? Honestly I didn’t think we should get the stimulus check, but our pretax deductions are so high that we did. Without them we would have received nothing. We certainly didn’t need it and that’s why we donated most of it. But we are also fortunate to have not been affected financially by the pandemic. So I realize it might be different for people who had good incomes and lost them due to the pandemic, but the check was based on prior income.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Frances

[Farrar 64,558]

We gave it away. We let the kids pick where their share went. Our share went to homeless and hunger charities in the city. The kids' shares went to organizations supporting out of work artists locally.

Our situation is a bit more precarious because reasons so we haven't talked about this money. If we were going to keep it, it would go into the general pot. We don't really separate money that way. We discuss large purchases but otherwise don't track each others' spending on a regular basis.

[Selkie 23,343]

Dh and I share all our money, but we won't be receiving any stimulus funds. Our two oldest kids are the only ones eligible in our family.

[carriede 1,211]

It went into our budget, which is the only budget. I have never earned an income while married and all the money DH earns is our money. We spent it on furniture and charitable donations.

[Moonhawk 7,224]

I like to think of our money as Schrodinger's bank account: I am both rich enough to buy a water heater and too poor to buy a hair tie, simultaneously. I daren't look at the balance and find out if the cat is alive or dead, lest my whole accounting system collapse upon itself. The stimulus just went into the box and hopefully the cat is still alive enough to notice, lol. 

 

[Tap 12,953]

When dh and I lived together, he paid set household expenses like mortgage, power, gas etc. The rest of his income went into his private savings. 

I have always worked, even when I home schooled. I paid for expenses related to the kids (tuition, sports, daycare, clothes) and variable expenses (food, gasoline, gifts, and general items like computers, technology etc). I had a small private savings, but generally spent my extra money on the kids. 

Due to this split, the relief checks went into our joint account, but he gave me mine and dd14's amount. 

We are mid-divorce now, and I expect the same will happen. He will keep his and he will give me mine and dd14's. (I am taking full custody of dd14). We need to have a tree taken down at the house, so I am going to ask him to put his amount toward that. I have no idea if he will, but it is my best bet at getting him to help pay for it. I think he should pay the full amount for the removal, but that is another story.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Tap

[kand 10,832]

5 hours ago, Frances said:

It went into the regular family budget, as all things do. But we used most of it for charitable donations, such as to the local food bank, or donations to some local businesses who were hurt by the shutdown. We are fortunate to have not been financially effected by the pandemic.

Exactly this for us as well. I don’t think we should have gotten one because we haven’t been financially affected by the pandemic, so it seemed appropriate to send it in the direction of those that have (ours went mostly to hunger relief, a restaurant relief fund and large tips to small local restaurants). 

Edited December 29, 2020 by kand

[City Mouse 2,874]

Ours went to pay general expenses. It made up for the income I lost in one month. While we are not having any trouble paying the mortgage or buying groceries, some plans have had to be put on hold due to reduced income. 

[frogger 4,799]

We had a major increase in the grocery budget since the college kid moved home about the time the grocery stores started putting. The rest probably went to restaurants but honestly, I have no choice. The next chunk of change will be set aside for next fall when I have 2 in college. I offered to pay board (since that is all I can afford) for all of them and they have to come up with a way to pay the rest. 2 at once sounds do impossible though. Saving every penny and eating more and more lentils and beans. Sorry restaurants, someone else will have to step up.

[purpleowl 4,140]

Throughout our marriage, our money has always been combined. We put the first stimulus payment towards car savings. Once DH is no longer working from home, we will need to replace his car. The second payment will probably go in the same category. 

[Carrie12345 19,662]

6 hours ago, kand said:

Exactly this for us as well. I don’t think we should have gotten one because we haven’t been financially affected by the pandemic, so it seemed appropriate to send it in the direction of those that have (ours went mostly to hunger relief, a restaurant relief fund and large tips to small local restaurants). 

We haven’t really been impacted either (other than one scary month in dh’s company), and we’re in the “you’ll get most of it, but not all” range. I don’t exactly feel bad about *getting it because  the concept of stimulating the economy is a really important one. I do feel bad that I’m a bit too nervous to really stimulate that economy, though. We’ve had and will have some big expenses, so I guess that’s unavoidable stimulation??? But mostly I want to keep setting money back for an emergency and then make sure some of it goes to the people who are simply just trying to get through this, never mind stimulating.

[Soror 24,189]

Family money.

Last time a chunk went towards a car for ds and the rest towards house projects.

This time it will be towards the Efund.

[hippymamato3 246]

13 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

We don't get it.  It doesn't make my fh mad but it sure does me.  I also can't get SS disability, we didn't get to claim college credit for our last  child who was our child we paid most for to go to college, etc. Rtc

The income limits are high for receiving the stimulus, so I'm not sure why you'd be upset you didn't get it. Be thankful you don't need it! (I am!)

[KatieinMich 2,108]

We share income 100%. This check went towards our $12,000 termite repair bill this summer. We didn’t expect to get it, but we were thankful when it showed up. 

[Meriwether 2,610]

We used the first stimulus to specifically help several small businesses - we paid another year's TKD tuition upfront, for example. This one we'll put in my Dd17's account since she'll be starting college in the fall. I'm not sure what scholarships she'll get, but I'm pretty sure the stimulus check will only be a fraction of what she needs.

[FuzzyCatz 18,816]

49 minutes ago, hippymamato3 said:

The income limits are high for receiving the stimulus, so I'm not sure why you'd be upset you didn't get it. Be thankful you don't need it! (I am!)

Oh we won’t get this round either.  Totally fine with it too.  💕

[Splash1 170]

Usually it would go into the family budget.  This past time though we just gave the money to adult son who didn't get payment and needed the money. We have been fortunate that our income has not changed.  Dh works for UPS.

[Wheres Toto 19,897]

All our finances are joint.   We'll probably use it to pay off some of the home improvements we did this year.  Dh initially didn't want to finance anything but certain things we're necessary (roof, new heating system) and other things were cheaper and easier if done at the same time (new windows and siding) so we did end up financing some of it.  I'm sure he'll want to pay off a chunk of that. 

[katilac 24,703]

13 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

 But with disability, it isn' just the money, it is the fact that most programs to help disabled in any way whatsoever, require SS disability

I can see how that is a useful proxy for organizations, but it's rough that they don't have alternatives. 

12 hours ago, Choirfarm3 said:

Our college kiddos got it. I guess because they aren't listed as dependents on our taxes and filed their own taxes.

Correct, dependents can't get it. 

[teachermom2834 8,526]

Last time around I was initially bummed that college kid didn’t  get it. He actually was the only one in our family who lost his job and was seriously impacted. However, he ended up with several disbursements from CARES act through his college even though he didn’t have a lot of need. He got disbursements in the spring/summer/ fall much more than initial stimulus would have been. He graduated in December but it looks like colleges will be granting money again. 

My kid that graduated this past May wasn’t a dependent so he got the stimulus but then he got a disbursement from his college too. 

So my two college kids made out well with the first stimulus. Both getting more than the individual stimulus amount. Kind of crazy, actually. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by teachermom2834