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Ready to grow your money this year? I'll share five tips to help you master your joint bank accounts together!
Managing Your Joint Accounts
Mastering your bank accounts is absolutely crucial to getting on the path to financial freedom.
We did a video a few weeks ago talking about whether or not joint accounts are going to be a good fit for you.
Today I'm sharing five tips to help you stay on top of your money without having to worry about every penny.
You can watch this week’s video here or you can read the highlights and grab some resources to master your joint bank accounts together!
Sketch Out Your Money Map
The first key to mastering your joint accounts is sketching out where your money is going.
This is important because even if you have uncomplicated finances there's going to be so many different accounts to keep tabs on.
Besides you joint goals, you also have personal ones. Make sure that your money is flowing correctly.
It doesn't have to be complicated. Get a piece of paper even something like a post-it and sketch out where the accounts are going.
If you need some help designing your sketch for your cash flow, my buddy Jim over at Wallet Hacks shared how you can set up your financial map quickly.
Looking for an easy way to stay on top of your money? Try apps like
Personal Capital, Tiller, Mint , and Zeta!
Find the Best Banking Option for You
Now for the second step you want to make sure you guys find the best bank account system for you.
Not all banks are created equal.
When we first got married we quickly realized our first bank was not the best place for our cash.
We had numerous issues and the customer service wasn't that great. To add insult to injury, the savings that we did scrape together were not earning really anything.
By moving our money we found that we got better service both with the people involved but then also our money was actually working for us.
If you're not happy with your current banking situation start looking at your options.
Look at a community bank or a credit union. They can be locally based yet have the reach of those bigger banks with their online system and ATM networks.
Getting good customer service is also fantastic. It's great to be able to call someone and get an immediate answer.
If you guys are highly mobile and you don't necessarily need to have a local branch look at online banking. They can have more competitive rates.
Many of the big plays like CiT Bank, Ally, and CapitalOne 360 offer great rates on their savings accounts.
Even if you guys go all joint with your bank accounts set aside some money to make sure that each of you has a little bit of spending cash for things that matter to you.
Automate Your Finances
Once you have your money stashed away at a bank or credit union that you guys love it's time to set up your finances.
Make sure you have automatic deposits, bill pay, and transfers scheduled. Maybe you guys are saving up for a trip.
An app like Qapital makes it easy to set up and save for your goal!
Make sure that they are getting paid a little bit early and then of course set up those automatic deposits.
Life gets in the way and you don't want to miss a payment and get hit with a fee.
Another tip? Have a buffer in your checking account. It'll cover you from unexpected accounts and rregular bills you may have forgotten about.
Keep Your Cashflow Moving
The fourth tip is making sure that cash flow is running smoothly.
In most cases, if you have your automated finances set up you're not going to see a problem. However, there have been times when mistakes have been made.
It's better to catch it early so it doesn't snowball into something big.
Review Your Bank Accounts Money Dates
Finally, the last tip is review things together on your money dates.
You might be the go-to numbers person or it might be your spouse but either way both of you need to know what's going on with your money.
Set aside if not every week just every month. Look at your bank accounts and make sure they're going in the direction that you need them to.
If you have to make adjustments it's easier to do it when things are small rather than wait months later and there's an issue.
Thoughts on Mastering Your Joint Accounts
I hope these tips help you out. They've definitely made things a lot simpler for us.
I'd love to hear from you – how do you manage your joint accounts?
This episode was originally published in March 2018. It has been updated March 2019.