Splitting up the household bills with your partner isn't always as easy as going 50/50 on everything, especially if one of you earns significantly more than the other, or if one person has fewer outgoings and can pick up more of the slack. But one woman has been left completely baffled after her fiancé told her she should be the one paying the bills - even though he earns a staggering £500,000 a year.
The woman, from the US, claimed that while she works in education on a $50,000 (£44,300) salary, her partner earns over 10 times as much as a doctor on a yearly wage of $600,000 (£532,200). And although the woman often lives "paycheque to paycheque" each month, her fiancé still expects her to contribute to the household bills on top of her other commitments.
In an anonymous letter sent to Buzzfeed's Money with Megan column, the woman said: "I'm engaged and having a hard time wrapping my mind around how to share income and expenses going forward because my partner makes considerably more money than I do. He's a doctor salaried around $600K a year. I work in education and make less than $50K a year.
"I am not a big spender but also not a saver. I am divorced, have joint custody of my teenage children, get no alimony or child support, and after the bills are paid and a little bit of discretionary spending, I pretty much live paycheque to paycheque. I rent a home, don't use credit cards, live modestly, enjoy shopping at thrift stores, and my car is eight years old with 225K miles."
The woman also said her fiancé "spends extravagantly" on certain things, and while he also has outgoings including child support payments and student loans, he has considerably more cash to play with than she does.
She added: "Other than saying that he expects me to 'contribute' and 'not just chill' while he's working, he won't fully communicate his financial wishes and expectations. We are currently looking at buying a home together so the issue is somewhat pressing."
In her response, Buzzfeed's personal finance editor Megan Liscomb said there's "no one right way" to share expenses as a couple, as while some people favour having a joint bank account where money can be used on the household, others prefer to keep their cash completely separate.
However, she suggested the couple abandon the idea of a 50/50 split and instead discuss the possibility of the woman contributing in a smaller way so that she's still pulling her weight but in a way that's proportionate to her income.
Another solution suggested by Megan involved getting her partner to pay for the mortgage and utilities, while she picks up smaller payments like food shopping and household subscriptions.
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