Amber McNaught writes...
Hello, my name is Amber and I am a maths phobic. Give me words over numbers any day: words I can handle. Numbers, though? Numbers have the power to both terrify and confuse me, in a way I haven't been terrified and confused since that time I managed to watch Psycho by myself at age 6.
I'm not exaggerating, either. I still count on my fingers and don't know my times tables off by heart. The day I found out that the Google search box functions as a calculator was one of the happiest days of my life. And questions beginning with the words, "If one train leaves the station travelling at 60mph and another train leaves the station travelling at 55mph..." bring me out in a cold sweat. Actually, I'm cold-sweating just from typing that. Now there's a nice image for your Thursday morning....
My level of number dyslexia means that, by necessity, most (and by "most" I mean "all") of our household finances have to be dealt with by my husband, who now even has to double-check the invoices I send out to my clients, so certain is he that they will contain a mistake. (He is right) Yes, when it comes to numbers and money, I am but a helpless female, utterly dependent on her man. GOD.
Despite this, however, I have resisted the lure of the joint bank account, even although we're now married and in some ways it would make sense to pool our finances. Oh, we do have a joint bank account - it's the one all of the household bills come out of. But we also still have our own, personal accounts - those are the ones my shoes are paid for out of. So there is "my money" and there is "his money", and never the twain will meet - not while there's life left in my overdraft, anyway. I cling to my personal account like Britney Spears clings to the last shreds of her career, and no matter how badly I tend to mis-manage it, I intend to keep it that way. My sanity and my shoe collection depend upon it.
Some of my friends expressed surprise at this state of financial affairs. They feel that getting married means sharing everything - money included. It's an attitude I just can't fathom. I can't imagine having no money of "my own". Having to ask permission for every purchase I make, or constantly explain what those frequent payments to the Arcadia Group are for. I may be married, but I still need my financial independence.
So, today's big question goes to those of you who live with a partner. Who manages your money? And how do you manage it?
Amber McNaught is a freelance writer and regular Shiny contributor. If it wasn't for her husband, she'd be writing this from the debtor's jail
