Newlyweds Combining Finances: Blessing Or A Curse?

We're a young (ish) couple in our early 30's preparing to start a family in Idaho, we just got married and now we're starting the process of figuring out finances. Do you share a bank account with your partner or is that a no-go? Here's how far we've gotten...

I was single for most of my twenties to this is by FAR the most advanced level of relationship I've experienced. Now that we're married, we've started looking at budgets, accounts, bills and all these things that tend to be hot button issues for couples. In fact, I had a therapist once who not only saw individuals, but also couples. He told me the NUMBER ONE THING couples fight about is money. Money can destroy relationships, and it does, frequently.

I downloaded a couple of apps to start tracking my expenses and it's pretty much as I thought... We have our must have bills like rent, phone, utilities, etc. But other than that, we spend a TON of money at Albertson's, too much money at the Human Bean, too much money at Starbucks and too much money at Costa Vida, but I guess we already knew that so it wasn't a surprise.

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We've decided to do a bill pay account where we'd both deposit money, put bills on auto pay and split things that way, while also keeping out own separate accounts. I don't necessarily need to see every purchase she makes, I trust she's not going to blow it all on lottery tickets. And I think she trusts me as well. What about you and your partner? What works for you? I'd love to hear from you on the Mix 106 Facebook page!