Wait, don’t answer that quite yet. Earlier in the summer, I mentioned in a post that I had casually been asking a few girlfriends how they and their significant other — boyfriend, partner, fiance, husband — handled money. I got a comment from a reader (hi, Holly!) mentioning that I should put a post together with what I’d found. I started to do just that…but then realized it’d be way more interesting to survey a whole BUNCH of people, regardless of whether I knew them personally.
So in true nerd form (in college I thought my first job would be as a market researcher, seriously), I built a survey that I’d like to invite you to take. You can find the survey here. Of note: this is anonymous. You’re welcome to input your first name or a pseudonym at the beginning of the survey, or choose to stay anonymous (note: the first name will only be used to attribute quotes that I’ll publish in the results blog post!). I’m not capturing any other identifying info, such as email addresses.
If you’re not currently in a relationship but would like to participate, feel free to take the survey based on a past relationship, if you feel it makes sense and is relevant. Because I’m especially interested in the qualitative (i.e., written) responses you guys provide, all insights and anecdotes are welcome!
Finally, I want to emphasize that whatever your responses, there’s zero judgement! This is simply a casual exercise to share what real life couples are doing, to hopefully give everyone some perspective, ideas, and resources.
I’ll leave the survey open for a couple weeks until Monday, Sept. 7, 2015 at 11:59pm Pacific time, then create a follow up with the results. Please feel free to forward on if you have friends who’d want to participate! I’m really curious to see the diversity of responses (or perhaps not!) and what solutions and compromises all of you have come up with in regards to a complicated subject in any relationship: money.
READ THE SURVEY RESULTS
Oh, I love this! I’m obsessed with people and money. My friends and I talk about it occasionally and we all seem to do things differently, but I’m so excited to see it on a larger scale!
I love research and I love online surveys! It will be so fun to see the results!
I am so excited about this! My boyfriend and I are moving in together soon and I have been soaking up all of the advice about combining finances as possible.
Just finished the survey, can’t wait to see the results and how you write about it!
Catherine
http://www.myinnerfabulous.com
Victoria, new commenter & long-time reader here! That was a fantastic survey (aesthetically beautiful and streamlined, to boot!). I had fun filling it out, and look forward to the shared results! =)
What a great idea! I’m always curious about these kinds of financial topics, but it’s so taboo to talk about money with anyone but family/advisors that it’s almost impossible to get a good “poll.”
I just submitted my answers. It was interesting to think about in the sense of explaining it to a third party. Can’t wait to see what comes out of the shared scenarios!
Just took the survey. I can’t wait to hear what other people say!
Just took the survey. Can’t wait to see the results. I’m always fascinated by how others handle their money. In a quick survey of my close friends the results are drastically different from one person to the next. Not just how they handle finances with their significant other even but how they handle them themselves. How diligent are they about their spending, how many/much splurges take place each month, what people tend to splurge on. It’s all so interesting to me!