The Trouble with Joint Accounts

The trouble with joint checking accounts is that more than one person is taking the money out of it. If more than one person is depositing money - no problem. The more the merrier. It is when two people are deducting from it that problems arise. Take for example the "fun" Mr. Bean and I had this week. We do most of our shopping together, but we have "his" and "hers" wallets, so receipts take residence in one or the other and don't always meet up again until I decide to record the expenses in Microsoft Money.

Now, imagine with me a pay period where both "his" and "hers" collect receipts for 2 1/2 weeks without meeting up again. This is a recipie for disaster and is exactly what happened to us this last pay period. Luckily, our bank was slower in recording the expenses than we were, so we dodged a big bullet.

To keep you from making the same mistake that we *almost* made, here are some tips:

1. If you are like us and treat your checking account as an in/out account, consider setting up an auto withdrawal from your savings account should your checking account dip below a pre-set amount.
2. Agree that whomever is the primary financial person in your family holds all the receipts when you go shopping together.
3. Once a week, put all your accumulated receipts into a envelope for the financial partner in your joint account relationship to enter into the system. Make it a habit by doing it on the same day every week. Pick two days a week to do this if necessary. (You can set a reminder using Outlook or other scheduling software.)
   
4. Move to the "envelope system" like my co-blogger Amy and her husband do. When you get paid put all your money in various envelopes for various expenses. For example, have an envelope with a preset amount of money in it for groceries, eating out, debt reduction, entertainment, etc.

Anyone have other tips to share with us to keep from accidentally overdrawing joint accounts?