Before Kiekie’s interview with the media personality, Toke Makinwa in a podcast episode, bills sharing has always been a controversial topic. Recall the moment when Hollywood actress, Gabrielle Union said the same thing about her marriage. The outrage was even louder considering the fact that her husband, Dwyane Wade had a lucrative career in sports.
Many think that bill sharing is an economic decision that a couple makes to make life easier on each other. However, some men consider the idea of splitting bills as a shift in the culture that exalts the man above the woman as the head of the family. Traditionally, the man is assigned the role of a provider while the woman is to give support. For some reason, sharing bills seem like sharing headship and some men simply abhor the idea. The reality is that in many homes, women are paying the bills- sometimes unwittingly.
Whether you are in for bill sharing or not, here are the pros and cons of this decision:
Pros
– The burden of bills is shared between the couple and there is little or no room for economic dependency in this arrangement.
-It helps to build mutual respect.
– It strengthens the financial planning for the home and fast track family projects such as building a house, acquiring a land or starting a joint partnership.
– It makes it easy for both parties to save some money.
Cons
– It could provoke disagreements when one party defaults on payments.
– In the instance of the death of the husband, a woman may have a hard time retrieving some of her purchased items from the home if the in-laws interfere and take charge of the deceased’s property especially where there is no will.
– It disrupts the traditional role of the man in the home. Men dread the day their children would see their mothers as father figures.
In conclusion, bill sharing should be discussed long before tying the knot. Whatever works for A’s marriage may not work for B’s. It is best to work out a plan that works for your home and avoid disaster.
