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" To this day, it remains one of the best things I have ever done. I did an internal housecleaning and made space for other people to come into my life. And when the right people entered my life, it started to soar. I had relationships that were based on truth. I felt the benefits of harmony and balance internally, and I also became more powerful. I had awakened courage that had been dormant, and it started to show up all over the place. The more I used it, the more it was there to help me, and my life grew bigger, better, happier, and richer. "
― Suze Orman , Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny
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" Add your monthly take-home pay to your partner’s monthly take-home pay. That is your total household income. Now divide your total monthly expenses by your take-home pay and from that you will derive a percentage. That percent is what each of you should contribute to your monthly joint expenses. Here’s an example. Let’s say your after-tax pay is $7,000 a month and your love brings home $3,000 a month. Your total household after-tax income is $10,000. Now add up all the expenses you have each month that keep the household running. Let’s say those expenses for utilities, rent, phone, and so on, come to $3,000 a month. Divide $3,000, your joint expenses, by $10,000, your joint take-home income, and that will give you 30 percent. That means that you each have to put up 30 percent of your take-home pay toward expenses, or $2,100 from you and $900 from your love—equal percentages, not equal amounts. Set up a joint checking account to pay for household bills. Yes, keep your own checking account, but set up one together. This is a great testing ground for your money habits. You know from the first month of The Save Yourself Plan that I want you to sit and pay the bills together. That means that one week before your appointed bill-paying, both of you are to have deposited your share of the monthly expenses into that account. "
― Suze Orman , Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny