The vocabulary of couples finance.

50/30/20 Rule

A simple budget allocation: 50% of after-tax income to needs, 30% to wants, 20% to savings or debt.

Alignment Score

A relationship-finance metric that tracks how in-sync two partners are about money over time.

Couples Finance

The financial structures, practices, and decisions specific to two-person households, distinct from personal finance.

Emergency Fund

A reserve of cash set aside for unplanned expenses or income loss: typically 3-6 months of essential expenses.

Envelope Budgeting

A budgeting method where money is pre-allocated into category-labeled buckets, and spending stops when a bucket is empty.

Financial Infidelity

Hiding money decisions (accounts, debts, purchases, or income) from a partner who has a reasonable expectation of knowing.

Financial Intimacy

The willingness and ability of two partners to be transparent, vulnerable, and aligned about money over time.

Joint Accounts

Bank or brokerage accounts shared between two or more people, with all account-holders having equal access.

Money Date

A structured weekly conversation about money between two partners: typically 20 minutes, guided through 7 steps.

Money Script

An unconscious belief about money (typically learned in childhood) that drives adult financial behavior.

Money Styles

Categories of habitual money behavior (typically spender, saver, and avoider) useful for couples understanding their differences.

Ours / Yours / Theirs

A three-envelope budgeting structure where shared expenses, your personal spending, and your partner's personal spending are tracked separately.

Separate Accounts

Bank accounts owned by one partner only, where the other partner doesn't have access or visibility by default.

Shared Financial Goals

Specific, time-bound financial targets that both partners actively contribute toward, distinct from individual goals or vague aspirations.

Zero-Based Budgeting

A budgeting method where every dollar of income is assigned a specific job at the start of each month. Income minus assignments equals zero.