Sound off on house/child ’sponsibilities
Hola Isabel asked a great question recently. And I want to ask it of you all. When it comes to caring for children, finances, and home — who does what? What about weekends? Also, do you work full time, part time or do the stay-at-home mom gig? And last but not least, do YOU think the work is fairly divided at your house?
Ok. That’s alot to answer so if you can just answer the “who does what”? That would be great. Its fascinating to hear how chores are divided (or not) in most households.
VirtualSprite on 10 Oct 2007 at 7:42 pm #
I work full time, so very little housework gets done. We’re doing our best to teach our three-year-old to pick up after himself and that dishes need to go in the sink or dishwasher.
With the 11- and 12-year-old, they are responsible for getting their laundry downstairs (or it doesn’t get washed) as well as getting their dirty dishes in the dishwasher. They are also responsible for cleaning their own rooms (including bathrooms to my standards).
Nature Boy and I split the duties fairly evenly otherwise. If it needs to get done, it gets done by whoever has time to do it.
But that’s just how we roll. I’m interested in finding out how other people do it… maybe there’s a better way and my house can be cleaner than Biohazard level 3.
Jenn on 10 Oct 2007 at 7:50 pm #
Great questions. Hubby and I both work outside the home full time. In my house things are pretty well divided. I think we both share pretty equally in the child care and household responsibilities. He does laundry because he knows how much I HATE it…I mow the lawn because I know how much HE hates it. Weekends are shared for the most part. But really, it’s pretty easy. The teenager pretty much does her own thing on the weekends and the six-year-old is pretty easy to please.
angela on 10 Oct 2007 at 11:18 pm #
We’re pretty even-steven, except Nick does all of the mowing and to make up for it, I try to do most of the laundry, but he does help with that sometimes too. Everything else we pretty much do together at the same time. Boring, aren’t we?
Elizabeth on 10 Oct 2007 at 11:20 pm #
I’ve been a stay at home Mom since December 1998. At first I tried to do all the housework myself, because you know, that was my “job”, and all. But now that we have a toddler in the house again, I do the daily stuff like dusting and vacuuming and scrubbing the pee off the floor around the toilet, and my husband does the laundry. Most nights he is folding laundry while we watch TV. I do the grocery shopping and about 90 percent of the cooking, we take turns doing dishes.
On the weekends, he tries to tackle big projects like replacing the summer window screens with the storm windows, or cleaning the gutters. He recently taught our just-turned-eleven year old son to mow the lawn, which helps a lot. That same son can also do complete loads of laundry, too. I believe in training up kids to be as helpful as possible!
MammaLoves on 11 Oct 2007 at 2:13 am #
The hubs works from home and I work at an office during the week, so we have flipped many of the “traditional” roles. He does the laundry, lawn, dishes, cooking and kid pick-up. We share baths, bedtime, cleaning. He does the bills cause I’m not strong with bills. I do the PTA, gardening, social organizing, purchasing of supplies, clothes, birthday party presents, christmas presents, etc.
It’s not fair. He does way more than I do. I’m a lazy ass and I want to be better. I’m just always so tired. I think I’m still recovering from the first 14 months of my three year-old’s life when he only slept two hours at a time. It was a miracle I didn’t have a psychotic episode.
Alissa on 11 Oct 2007 at 2:21 am #
Ummm, I do it all!
No. Just kidding. I just do almost all of it.
I work full time, 7-3:30 Monday thru Friday. DH works full time, 2PM-10PM Saturday through Wednesday, and part time Wednesday-Friday nights from 10PM to 7AM.
So, he’s rarely home when the boys and I are, and when he is he’s usually asleep. He is home on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings when he doesn’t have court, but that’s never a definite.
That leaves me to do the childcare and the housework. I drop them off in the mornings at the sitter, and pick them back up in the afternoons. There’s no one else to do it. I fix the meals and do the grocery shopping, I help with homework and do the laundry. Sometimes DH does the dishes if I leave them the night before, and he’ll mow the grass once a week if he gets the opportunity. If not, I’ll do those things, too. He ALWAYS changes the litterbox. Always.
However, he works so much that I don’t have room to complain, because I know that if he were home he’d help out. Not so much with the housework, but with the childcare. Being gone so much he’s really missing alot, and he hates it, but at this point in our lives we need the income the second job brings in. Someday things will change. And his being off those few weekday mornings allow him to do things like run errands and pay bills that normally I’d have to mail, he can change the oil in the car or perhaps clean out the gutters…things that would otherwise cut into family time.
It all works out. Sometimes it feels unfair, but you do what you have to do.
Dana on 11 Oct 2007 at 2:32 am #
I work part-time from home. Chris and I share household chores evenly, though some things (man stuff like lawn mowing, car repair, fix-it stuff) are usually his territory and housecleaning/grocery shopping are mostly mine. We both make dinner, load the dishwasher, and do laundry. I homeschool and care for the kids and work throughout the day; whoever had the least stressful day takes over the kids’ bedtime routines. Liam puts all the laundered clothes away. Child labor, WOO!
mayberry on 11 Oct 2007 at 2:46 am #
I work almost full-time and my husband works a little more than full-time. We pay for housecleaning. I do all the laundry (partly because I hate the way he does it; he takes his shirts out though). I pay the bills (online). We split grocery-shopping fairly evenly. I cook during the week and he cooks on weekends and for special occasions (he is a much better cook). We both take care of the yard but he mows the lawn. He’s also the handyman–for small jobs–the rest we pay someone else to do.
Kid care I feel like I do 90% of. Drop-offs, pick-ups, after-school care (they are in school/daycare for the hours that I work), doctor’s appointments, staying home with them when they are sick, taking care of them on weekends while he is (constantly) busy doing something else etc. We share bedtimes if we are both home. Night-time wake-ups (now rare, thank goodness) we probably split 70-30 with me doing more.
My resentment level has gone down a bit from the baby stage where he did even less kid care. My biggest problem is I feel that he is usually looking for a way to pawn off the kids on me (or “why don’t we call a babysitter?”) instead of actually spending time with them.
OK that was long… sorry.
Jazz on 11 Oct 2007 at 3:28 am #
I do 80% of the childcare. I pay the bills, grocery shop, errands, appointments, etc. So that means that I do
about 75% of household stuff, too. Oh, and I work full time and bring the boys to work with me. Yeah, fun.
Erica (crummy cupcake) on 11 Oct 2007 at 5:14 am #
In our house it looks like this:
I work full time but am able to work from home Monday and Wednesdays and all day Fridays so I can do the kid pickups those days. My husband is a high school librarian (summers off and home with the kids) and he does the Tuesday/Thursday pickups. We divide the dinners (made easier with a weekly meal plan when we remember to do it) we split the grocery shopping and the kids are old enough now (10 and 6) to participate a lot in the weekly cleaning, plus they have to spend 5 minutes every morning taking care of their rooms.
I tend to do most of the laundry, husband does the vacuuming (because he loves his Dyson) and the garbage and outside care and we split the rest. I usually do more where the inside of the house is concerned. But really, I multi-task better and get more done more efficiently so it works for us that I do that.
After 12 years together I feel like this is the most evenly distributed family and home care we have ever had. This is easier to accomplish because the children are a little older. I’m pretty pleased, actually.
Rebekah on 11 Oct 2007 at 11:10 am #
Chuck and I both work outside the home. Chuck takes the girls to the sitters in the morning and I pick them up. I make dinner, grocery shop, do all the house cleaning. Chuck makes breakfast on the mornings that there are mouths to eat it. He does help with dishes and laundry some. I generally keep things picked up around the house but when the house is neglected due to my exhaustion, Chuck has been known to pick up a toy or two and get out the vaccum. I pay our household bills and Chuck takes care of his business bills. Through the week I do 90% of child care. I work a lot of weekends and Chuck takes care of the kids on those days.
Kristin on 11 Oct 2007 at 1:18 pm #
I used to do it all, then, I did nothing and now, we’re pretty even.
Kelly on 11 Oct 2007 at 1:47 pm #
I am a stay at home mom. I do mostly everything. I do the finances, the kids most of the time and all the household crap. I am back in school now, and when the youngest is in Kindergarten (2 years) I plan to be working part time, so hopefully we will split some of these things. My husband helps a lot with the kids on the weekends and the evenings, because I am usually spent by then!
Farrell on 11 Oct 2007 at 2:55 pm #
I’m a single mom so I do EVERYTHING. And when I was married, I did…uh, well, pretty much everything: grocery shopping, planning dinner (which does not necessarily mean “cooking”), bill paying (though I wanted to take this over because I wanted to know where our money was etc and boy oh boy I am glad i did!), laundry (which i despise. And when I asked him to help, he said, “How hard is it to transfer clothes from washer to dryer?” It’s not. It’s the PUTTING THEM AWAY part I always get stuck on. Also: ironing. *shudder*), clean the house, PLAN and purchase and wrap and send all gifts for HIS side of the family plus my side, write any and all thank you notes, etc. Everything.
Though I have to say to other commenters: You guys seem to have really good husbands. Did they come out of the box that way, or did you train them? I desparately need some training tips. I will pay you. For real, dog.
Farrell on 11 Oct 2007 at 3:00 pm #
Oh, also: sorry for the double comment but my friends S&D have a rule: when one partner is doing chores, the other one has to as well. Then, they both relax together or sep. but I think it helps cut down on the resentment. Because that was one of the (many) problems with me and my ex: While he was mowing the lawn (which only takes an hour whereas cleaning the house takes min. 2, plus groceries, plus laundry, etc) I would be out at the pool. BUT when he played 6 hours of golf every sunday, I would be doing all the house stuff. Yet since he didn’t “see” me doing it, it’s as if it never happened (I guess the toilets sparkled magically)
OMIG i sound SO BITTER.
I just want to do it different the next time, if there is a next time.
Andrea on 11 Oct 2007 at 3:47 pm #
We both work full time, and generally speaking Mike does the more physical of the work. I pay the bills, do laundry, and generally run around after the kid(s), about 80% of that stuff. Mike does the yardwork and dusting and vacuuming (because he’s better at it than I). I clean the kitchen and floors and anything to do with our finances, resumes, or insurance goes through me. We both do the shopping, cooking, and cleaning up after dinner. Mike takes care of the social planning.
Bedtimes are for both of us, though the book reading and storytelling falls to me.
Cece on 11 Oct 2007 at 3:54 pm #
Caring for the kids, after school my husband picks them up, starts homework, gives them snacks and has them change out of their uniforms. They hang out w/him at home for a coupleof hours and as he leaves for work, at 3:30, he drops them off at my Grandma’s house for two hours until I get home from work.
Finances, we keep separate accounts. It has worked that way for us for the last 10 years so why change it? We split the cost of rent. I pay for all our health insurance and in return he pays all the utilities and my cell phone bill. We each pay our own credit cards. Groceries he mostly buys for us and I might shop in between weeks.
House, I do all the cleaning and laundry. He doest 90% of the cooking. I work full time so I use a few hours either during the week while he’s at work or spend 1/2 of Saturday cleaning/washing.
I think things are divided equally between us. I do more house stuff but he never has a problem giving me a hand with anything if I just ask him.
Stephanie A. on 11 Oct 2007 at 4:07 pm #
This is a good question!
I feel like things are pretty equal at our house. Right now we both work FT, but I will go PT in April.
We both do an equal amount of cleaning. In fact, A probably does a little more because it tends to bother him more. Generally we both do the dishes/dishwasher. I tend to do more laundry, but if A needs something or feels I’m not moving quickly enough, he will just go ahead and do it. He does do all of the yard work, though, and I do all of the finances. I cook most of the time and we both go to the grocery store.
As for caring for Hugo, that, again, is pretty equal. Sometimes both of us go to the doctor together, otherwise, it depends on who has no meetings or is free. The same for taking sick days- whoever doesn’t have in-person meetings usually stays home. The only thing we “take turns” with for Hugo is sleeping in on the weekends. Since H gets up super early, we both realize there is no reason for two of us to get up that early.
I think the key for us is that both of us really value our home, our time together, and each other. We even have a motto that we use when we work together as a family, and cheesy as it sounds, this is the only way I would have been happy in a marriage. I’m just not a housewife and am pretty incapable of doing it all myself.
Zookeeper on 11 Oct 2007 at 7:04 pm #
As a stay-at-home mom, the majority of the day-to-day household chores are mine. However, I don’t keep an immaculate house and there’s always laundry to be washed or put away. My husband works full-time outside of the home, but he still pitches in around the house. He always does his own laundry and cleans the litter boxes. He will do the dishes and mow the lawn if I don’t get around to it. He also does the bigger fix-it type things that need attention around the house. Oh…and he carries heavy stuff up and down the stairs for me.
As far as childcare goes, I am home with them for most of their day. I know more about their immunizations, their schoolwork, and their friends. But I let a lot fall on him when he gets home. If the baby needs a diaper change, I send her to see Daddy. And if my son wants help with a puzzle, I tell him Dad’s home. There are usually a couple of nights a week when I have a meeting or music rehearsal, so bath time and bedtime are often his responsibility too.
I have never felt like I carry too much of the childcare weight. He is such a wonderful father. But I can’t say that I’ve never felt a slight resentment about my share of the housework. But that might be because housework just isn’t as much fun as playing with the kids.
Ruth Dynamite on 11 Oct 2007 at 7:20 pm #
You’re opening a Pandora’s box here, you know.
I do bills, some cleaning, occasional laundry, occasional cooking, and a million other things I’m forgetting about now. He does garbage, frequent laundry, some cleaning, car maintenance and yardwork.
We don’t quarrel about the division of labor, but we have - just like every other couple everywhere since the dawn of time does. (But especially in recent years.)
Isabel on 11 Oct 2007 at 7:20 pm #
You know it sucks at my house too. But I can’t blog about it on my blog…so I’ll tell you here.
I do it all.
But Ken is building us a house. So technically he does stuff to help out. But dude, would it kill him to clean the toilet ONCE!?
Sandra on 11 Oct 2007 at 8:05 pm #
Ahhhhh. Well I work full time (plus a second gig on the side to hopefully someday replace my fulltime job). But my husband works insane hours and often travels … so I do it all. ALL of it. I am the only one who does allll the childcare stuff and all of the “logistics” of our life. But he cleans … every Saturday morning he cleans.
Nap Warden on 11 Oct 2007 at 8:56 pm #
I am a full time SAHM. I do almost everything at home related. Husband tries to help, but he works long hours…I feel like a single mom a lot of the time…It’s a hard gig.
Jessalee on 12 Oct 2007 at 2:37 am #
Great question!
I work at home full time and my husband works out of the home full time. I tend to put in more hours than he does since I run my own business so he ends up doing quite a bit of the chores. I do the finances. I do most of the childcare as well. We try to divide things up evenly, but our work schedules are not even so that’s difficult. It usually ends up with me begging for him to do the dishes or pick up the living room even though he’d done them four days in a row already. Fortunately for me he’s a pushover.
And as for the beast known as laundry? He washes and dries, I fold and we both put away.
slackermommy on 12 Oct 2007 at 3:51 am #
I pay the bills but my hubby manages most of our investments and savings because I would probably spend it all. I do all the housework so I have a cleaning lady every other week and the hubs doesn’t say a word about it because he knows that if he does he will be taking on toilet duty. He does help with loading and unloading the dishwasher. I can get him to put away the laundry if I fold it on the bed and leave it there until bed time. He goes to bed before me so he has to put it away if he wants to sleep. I’ve got all kinds of tricks up my sleeves! He does all the yard work except for the potted plants. He waters all the inside plants because he sees how I let my potted plants die. He takes care of the hot tub and I take care of the pool. I do all the shopping but he will grocery shop if I draw him a diagram of the store with detailed instructions of what to buy. I help our kids with homework and manage all their paperwork. He’s the garbage man except when he’s out of town but then I usually forget and we end up putting our cans at the neighbors for pick up. I’m responsible for our social calendar and extra curricular activities. He does help with carpooling and with getting everyone to bed if he knows there’s nooky to follow. In fact he does a lot of things to help with the promise of nooky.
Julie on 12 Oct 2007 at 4:24 pm #
When my hubby and I first moved in together, we split the four biggest chores down the middle according to who hated what less. I hate cooking and dishes, so he took those. I got laundry and grocery shopping. What worked so well about this scheme is that if dishes piled up or laundry sat unwashed, there was no arguing — we each knew who was supposed to remedy the situation.
Now that we have a baby, chores are still sort of divided, except that the baby and I generate a lot of dishes throughout the day so I try to stay on top of that when I can. But when he gets home, hubby still cooks and is usually the one to clean up the kitchen still. It still more or less works.
Is that too simple an answer?
Kristi B. on 12 Oct 2007 at 9:17 pm #
I’m a SAHM and my dh is a doctor who works outside of the home non-stop. So obviously I do everything. I miss the days at the beginning of our marriage/relationship when it was more evenly divided. When we first moved in together, we both were working fulltime and had no kids. He pretty much cooked, I pretty much did dishes, and we both shopped. Once a week we’d clean the whole place (our biggest place was 1200sf, our smallest was 600sf) and do the laundry together. Afterwards, we’d sit down to Northern Exposure, our fav tv show at the time.
Now, it pretty much sucks. I do everything related to the children—driving them to school, picking them up which means I go back and forth to school 3 times a day since one of them has 1/2 day kindergarten and the other has a fullday. Also, taking them to ballet and swimming lessons 3 times a week, and sitting there during. Of course all of the playdates, doctor appts, etc. I also am on the PTA at their school and another committee and have driven for every field trip but one. I also do just about everything else—any special event related to school or extracurriculars, all the errands and shopping, all the laundry, housecleaning (both the weekly stuff and daily), other appts (e.g. vet), all the bills and budgeting and balancing, all the social organizing, present buying and wrapping, thank you cards and holiday cards, holiday and birthday party planning and organizing, etc. I do the traditional male stuff too like taking the cars in for maintenance, taking out the trash, except the one thing that he is responsible for is the yard. We live where there is no mowing required so everything we do on the yard is essentially optional, though we do want it to look nice and he tackles these projects whenever he has time. If he didn’t do it, it wouldn’t get done.
He is however, unbelievably awesome at pitching in when he is here. He wouldn’t even consider just sitting and watching TV while I cleaned. We are both always buzzing around the house doing things. He’s also terrific on pitching in with the kids when he’s home. The problem is just that he’s so often not home that I am ultimately responsible for everything and can’t count on his help. It’s not a situation I feel horribly good about. I do worry that when/if I go back to work (and I’m starting on this path now taking nursing courses) that we’ll have set such a long precendent of me doing everything that I will have to add my new job responsibilties to whatever I’m already doing. It kinda sucks actually.
Thanks for asking! this was interesting.
Dana on 12 Oct 2007 at 10:47 pm #
Hubby does laundry and cooking. I do dishes, clean Dawson’s room and put laundry away. We both work full-time.
Tamberlyn on 13 Oct 2007 at 5:16 pm #
I kind of went on strike this week BUT…..typically, hubby does all the yard work except planting potted plantsin the spring. He walks the dogs 2 times a day (whereas I just let them out to relieve themselves) and he does trash duty. Cooking is about 50/50 so dishes are about 50/50 as well, but he empties the dishwasher probably about 75% of the time. I do all the laundry and put everything away (2 kids) except for his clothes. I do all the cleaning (4+ bedrooms 3.5 baths) and 80% of the grocery/house shopping, all the bill paying, kids Dr. appts, birthday,Christmas,clothes, etc. shopping, homework, special projects, you get the idea. We both work full time although I work from home two days a week. He drops and picks up the girl at preschool while I take care of the boy at school. Sometimes I don’t feel like it is quite 50/50, but when I decide to go on a semi-strike he steps up and takes over. This morning I slept until 10:00 and the laundry was started (it has been sitting there since there since Thursday) and the dishwasher had been run and unloaded already. Kids were fed and they were doing a science experiment from the boys mad science class! Not too bad…..hmmmm maybe he he will get lucky tonight! But, I’m sure that was part of his plan!
Foggy City Mommy on 13 Oct 2007 at 6:13 pm #
ricky puts away his toys and laundry. mind you he doesn’t put them in the right places and the laundry is never folded but hey!! he puts it all away! I do the rest. single mom and a two year old. what do you expect?
Pendullum on 14 Oct 2007 at 12:33 am #
Ohh…
I do not think I want to think about this…
Or I may become bitter….
But I willpour myself a glass of wine and ponder it….
Nap Queen on 14 Oct 2007 at 7:52 pm #
We both work full time with no kids, so we both should have plenty of time to get stuff done. I’m the breadwinner, so he does more around the house. I do the shopping and cooking, he does the yard, takes out the trash, empties the dishwasher, and scoops the litter. We do our own laundry, and we have a maid that comes twice a month to do a deep clean with the bathrooms, etc.
Amber on 15 Oct 2007 at 1:26 am #
Who does what just kind of naturally evolved. Since I’m at home and only freelance, I do most of the household stuff i.e. clean, cook, laundry etc. My hubby does all the outside stuff , bills, and helps with the kids and above items when he is home.
But overall when he’s home, I’d rather be spending time with him and kids vs. having him clean the toilets. That’s when a maid would come in handy.
Tori on 15 Oct 2007 at 9:09 pm #
Hello Loveliness
In our house, things change every day. I work varying hours at the radio station during the week and every weekend. Some weeks it’s more hours than another so those weeks not as much gets done. We have a wonderful lady who comes once every two weeks and in between her, I do bits and bobs. Big Wave does his part though I have to badger him sometimes to take out trash, but he can cook, do laundry and all that stuff. We have a good morning routine if I am not at work. We get up early, walk the dogs, get the house up, make the pack lunches, make the breakfast etc and when the school bus has taken the last of the four angels away - he gets ready for work.
We play it by ear every day and we have to flexible. I never feel that he doesn’t do his part but I think if you asked him, he would say that he wished I still took care of him the way I did when we only had one kid!!!!!! I was a new wife and was diligent in the kitchen catering to his vegetarian cuilinary needs…now, let’s say, there’s a lot of Morningstar Farm products!!!!!!
Lori on 16 Oct 2007 at 12:19 am #
As you know, we’re childless at the moment.
If I’m being honest, I have to admit that my husband does a LOT of the housework. I’m a lucky girl!
But. But.
His idea of “clean” and mine are quite different. In this case, I think it’s quality over quantity.
And the man leaves little blackened fingerprints EVERYWHERE…around doorknobs, on the handle of the fridge, on the white kitchen cabinets. Damn. It’s almost like having a child sometimes…
Oh, The Joys on 16 Oct 2007 at 12:22 am #
I plan, shop, cook and do laundry.
K does the yard, trash and finances.
I pay someone to clean.
We both work.
He does WAY more than his fair share, always.
Jen on 18 Oct 2007 at 1:23 am #
I worked full time until April, my husband worked full time (12 hour shifts rotating days/nights) until he went to Iraq in January (where he now works 24/7). When we both worked full time I paid the bills, grocery shopped, did laundry, cleaned the house. We have a 15 year old and she has chores such as trash and dishes. We shared the care of the 6 year old such as bath time and bed time. Hubby did the “man chores” such as lawn mowing, car maitenance, wood cutting (since we heat by wood furnace) and care of the pains in the butts in the back yard aka the dogs. Now with him in Iraq I do it all and work part time by substitute teaching.
becky on 18 Oct 2007 at 3:40 pm #
i take care of the money….we split taking care of hannah since i work full time during hte day and matt works full time at night. matt cooks dinner most nights…i do ALL the cleaning…he’ll do laundry sometimes. i feel like i do more but since he’s such a great dad and husband it usually doesn’t bug me!
Sheila / Kiki36 on 18 Oct 2007 at 8:40 pm #
Caring for children: Me 70% / Husband 30%
Finances: Me 100%
Home: Cooking: Me 70% / Husband 30%
Home: Cleaning: Me 60% / Children 30% / Husband 10%
All the same applies for the Weekends.
I am a full-time, stay-at-home mom.
Yes, I think the work is fairly divided at my house.
Sarah on 19 Oct 2007 at 7:43 pm #
I guess that in alot of ways, this question doesn’t apply to me because Donald and I don’t have children yet, but I’ll answer what I can about what chores we do have to do around the house.
Donald does home repair. All of it.
I wash the dishes. All of them.
Donald does most of the yard work. For instance, he does the tree trimming, the tilling, the planting, and the landscaping. I do the weeding and the watering, according to what he tells me needs to be done.
I do most of the house work. For instance, I clean the bathrooms, the kitchen, wash the fridge, do the dusting, and vaccuum. He takes out the trash and treats the carpet, according to what I tell him needs to be done. He also cleans the litter box for our cat, but I feed and clean the cat so that’s fair. Besides, I do all the laundry.
Donald and I split the cooking pretty evenly. We both love to cook, but I do more of it during the week because he comes home later and he does almost all of the cooking on the weekend. We also split the finances pretty evenly. We both hate to deal with finances, but he does most of it because he knows more about money than I do. He does almost all of our day-to-day stuff and I take care of taxes and receipt maintenance and filing. We also split the groceries 50/50. We almost always go together on a weeknight after dinner.
Donald brings in most of our money. He has a regular full-time job as a mechanical engineer. I am a full-time student and I do freelance work on the side. Sometimes my job pays well. Sometimes it doesn’t. So the money I bring in is more for a rainy-day fund than anything else.
I think the work is split pretty evenly around our place. Obviously, like any marriage, there are times when one of us does 90% and the other does 10% and it always seems a little unfair when you’re the one doing 90%, but for the most part I’d say we’re as close to 50/50 as we can be.