We have separate finances. I own the house we live in, so all the expenses related to the house are covered by me - taxes, insurance, utilities, repairs, maintenance, even the cleaning lady. We each pay for our own cars, misc. personal purchases, and kids' stuff. The only financial obligation of my husband to the family is to pay for all the groceries. It might not seem like much at a first glace :), but in reality, it adds up to a lot, since I have four kids who live with us full time (well, the oldest one (college student) normally lives on campus, but is living at home with us during the summer), and they all eat A LOT! especially the 18- and 19-year-olds. Plus, they are all home all day during the summer, so all they do is eat :). My husband's daughter is only with us about 1/3 of the time, and she almost doesn't eat anything - she is only 5. So, basically, most of the grocery bill is for "my" part of the family.
Of course, overall, I contribute financially a lot more to the family than my DH, but I also have a lot more "baggage" than him. Also, I am GETTING child support for the kids, and he is PAYING child support, so of course it is easier for me. I also got lucky - in my previous marriage, my divorce went much better than my marriage ever was, and my ex-husband left me the house and no mortgage, so it helps a lot!

Here's how it works for us. I have my house rented out due to the market. So it is self maintaining and I actually make a profit each month. He pays for his mortgage of the house we live in. He pays all the bills and keeps a running tab of my half of the utilities and the family credit card. I write him a check sometime during the month. Our prenup is pretty specific on the equity on the houses, which is why I don't pay any of the mortgage on his house until mine is sold. Then this house is paid off and we split what equity is increased since I moved in and we had it appraised. I take back the equity I put in in case of divorce.

Now he pays for anything with his kids on his personal CC. I pay for mine with mine. We have a joint card for groceries and household purchases. Any evenings or excursions out with the whole family are put on this card. We split that bill at the end of the month. We put the satellite and the health club on that card since that is family use. The only thing I pay for is his phone and my sons since I run that through my business. He pays for the Netflix since it is about the same cost. Otherwise everything is 50/50.

As for savings, not much going on now with my new company. We have a joint acct that we match each other in if we are saving for a big vacation or new furniture.

This works for us. Had my house sold than we would have split the mortgage here. But, the housing market changed that.

Good luck. I think you are on the right track it is really nice when money is not one of the arguments you have. There are so many other with the stepkids.

Here's how it works for us. I have my house rented out due to the market. So it is self maintaining and I actually make a profit each month. He pays for his mortgage of the house we live in. He pays all the bills and keeps a running tab of my half of the utilities and the family credit card. I write him a check sometime during the month. Our prenup is pretty specific on the equity on the houses, which is why I don't pay any of the mortgage on his house until mine is sold. Then this house is paid off and we split what equity is increased since I moved in and we had it appraised. I take back the equity I put in in case of divorce.

Now he pays for anything with his kids on his personal CC. I pay for mine with mine. We have a joint card for groceries and household purchases. Any evenings or excursions out with the whole family are put on this card. We split that bill at the end of the month. We put the satellite and the health club on that card since that is family use. The only thing I pay for is his phone and my sons since I run that through my business. He pays for the Netflix since it is about the same cost. Otherwise everything is 50/50.

As for savings, not much going on now with my new company. We have a joint acct that we match each other in if we are saving for a big vacation or new furniture.

This works for us. Had my house sold than we would have split the mortgage here. But, the housing market changed that.

Good luck. I think you are on the right track it is really nice when money is not one of the arguments you have. There are so many other with the stepkids.

We handle finances similar to Proud_Arrow. Dh and I have about the same monthly income, so we each put the same into the joint account for monthly joint expenses. We used to fight about money all the time because DH is terrible with money, gave SS way to much, couldn't cover his own bills, creditors called all the time, and he had overdraft charges costing hundreds every month. It was awful.

So I showed him all the household expenses, the ridiculous balance we're carrying on credit cards, and I told him how living on the financial edge was horribly uncomfortable for me. We worked it out. Now I pay the household bills but DH sits with me when I do and we talk through expenses. He's even started to ask questions about why I handle things certain ways. HUGE improvement.

I don't ask how he spends the money in his account, nor does he ask about my expenses. It's not like it's a secret since we both have access to our cash management software, it's just not an issue. Works for us.