There will always be something that is only yours, his, and you both owned. During our decades of being together we've seen dramas and exhaustive platitudes about the beauty of cohabitive financial bliss - yeah right. We've tried separate accounts and combined accounts but realized that we have our own earnings so why not have our own accounts and have a combined one that pays for everything that we both need to pay for together like rent, insurance, retirement funds, etc. We then have our own allowance that we call play money which we then use for whatever we please - buying each other gifts, buying ourselves shoes, savings for our own personal needs (in my case an iPhone). Does this financial strategy works for everyone? NO! You have to do what is comfortable. If you are in the relationship for money, then be honest to yourself about it. If you are in the relationship for love and you have no problem losing your shirt in the process (if you happen to not realize you were blindsided by the other person and took all your money) then conjoin your finances at the hip. If you end up with someone who was honest and true and money is secondary to having a life together, then you can play with various modes - separate, combined, or whatever other configuration you can think of.
The point we're making is this - when it comes to money, don't be an ostrich and get your head off the sand and see where you're headed. Together you can make the financial decisions and strategies work much more effectively than not talking about it. BUT talking about it too much is also going to end up looking like that's the only thing you focus on in the relationship. BALANCE and TIMING are important when money discussions are involved.
It's Valentine's Day, make sure when you splurge, you do so for the right reasons.
