MUST READ: Is a Joint Bank Account the Secret to a Happy Marriage?

People are gonna tell you to keep your accounts separate. But my husband and I did just the opposite. Soon after we said "I do," we said goodbye to our individual checking accounts. Not only have we never regretted it, but we think joint banking has actually brought us closer together.

Here's why:

Transparency

Money flies in and out of our bank account faster than our baby crawls away during a diaper change. But tracking exactly how much we're spending and saving is fairly easy when we're using a central account for most of our transactions. We each have a few individual credit cards, but we pay them off with our joint account. It ensures we're always both aware of where our money is coming from and going to because we have a shared account that we both see.

One Financial Mindset

Opening our joint checking account and closing our separate accounts immediately changed the way we look at our finances. The money was no longer mine or his -- it was ours, literally and figuratively. And we still think about it that way. We don't bring home identical paychecks, but we both stick to identical budgets. We've budgeted out personal spending for ourselves, but we each get the same amount. And our financial goals are the same, too. It's easy for us to stay on the same financial path and stick to our financial goals when neither of us has ownership over a certain percentage of our money.

Shared Awareness

Because all of our spending is aired out for the other person to see, we don't keep any financial secrets. We know what the other person spends, and on what. While this may sound a bit stifling, it keeps both of us from creating unhealthy spending habits. And more importantly, it keeps an open line of communication about our spending. Of course, all bets are off around birthdays and Christmas. (We have a "no peeking at the bank account" rule to keep from spoiling any surprises.) We even let loose every once in a while. Can you tell how wild and crazy we are? Kidding.

Of course, there are other considerations. We married young, and the only financial baggage we brought into our marriage was my student loan debt (which became a joint effort to pay off). If we'd been older and more settled, the decision to share our finances would have been a more significant one. But as the saying goes, "The couple that banks together stays together." Or maybe I just made that up. While joint banking isn't for every marriage, it works for us. And maybe it's the financial recipe for you, too.