Quote:
Originally Posted by ssandra  I don´t really think this situation would be any different if they would have joint accounts... |
The difference comes about via thinking about the problem correctly in the joint account scenario vs. incorrectly in the separate scenario. When the guy goes to buy the sunglasses out of the joint account, the question is: "Is this the right thing to spend the *family's* money on?" When it's nominally his account, the question is "Should I spend *my* money on this?". It's fairly easy for the answer to the first question to be "no" but the second question to be "yes". The reason for the discrepancy in answers is that the second question contains the assumption that the decision won't affect the family. That's of course a false assumption since whether or not the sunglasses get bought (regardless of accounting scheme) determines whether the car can be repaired. So it clearly does affect more than just you.