The gender money management divide

WOMEN believe they are better money managers than men and they stick to a solid financial plan to achieve success.

There’s no denying money can put a huge strain on relationships and new research from creditsimple.com.au has revealed 24 per cent of women rate themselves as “excellent” at managing money and keeping to a budget.

This compares with 21 per cent of men.

Francesca Macri, 33 and husband Christopher Walters, 34, run a creative agency business together and she said she’s in the driver’s seat when it comes to handling finances.

“I manage the bills and our two mortgages, the salaries come into our account and I transfer my husband his spending money,’’ she said.

“Every month I have an informal chat with my husband over the breakfast table about if we owe strata fees or any acceptable expenses coming up and what we need to budget for in the next month.”

Her main concern is they are carrying too much debt on credit cards; she has a $6000 credit card limit and her husband’s is $12,000.

Rising Tide Financial Services’ managing director Chris Browne warned couples to “air their dirty laundry” when sharing their finances or they could be destined for failure.

“In my experience often women do wear the pants when it comes to managing finances,’’ he said. “Get a nice bottle of wine and draw up a budget together and try and make it fun because if it’s really clinical people don’t do it.

“Be totally and utterly transparent when it comes to your finances; there should be no hidden accounts.”

Creditsimple data found loved-up couples are better money managers – their average credit score is 761 compared with singletons at 692.

Credit scores are between zero and 1000 and most credit scores are between 300 and 850. A good score is about 500.

Creditsimple spokeswoman Emily Price said often couples have a “shared role” with managing their money.

“Setting up a budget as a couple is key and understanding where they both stand coming into the relationship,’’ she said.

“If either parties have unpaid bills or credit card debts, they need to get them paid off and then it’s about working together with their finances.”