Should bills be split 50/50 if you make more than your spouse?

If you make more money than your partner, should you have to pay more bills, or should it be 50/50 still?

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No, if one makes more than the other it should be percentage based or itā€™s not fair.

Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. Should bills be split 50/50 if you make more than your spouse?

My n my spouse have a joint account, its our money so we just pay them as they come in with our money! There should never be ā€œmy moneyā€ in a relationship. Its an equal effort on both parts

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If youā€™re married I think joint account is fine. Pay whatever bills you have and both use the account at your leisure. Decide savings etc etc. Unmarried 50/50

We donā€™t really keep track in my family. Itā€™s always been in one account together and ā€œoursā€ together. It was the same with my parents as well

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How about a joint account that pays the bills from the household money, since if youā€™re married, the money is not his or hers.

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Yes, if one spouse makes significantly more money, they should be paying more bills. It wouldnā€™t be fair to have $5 left after paying bills. But honestly whatever income is going into the house is joint income. So I donā€™t really see it as splitting.

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We both work , itā€™s OUR money and OUR bills. Were a team!

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My hubby and I got a joint account right before we got married. All our money goes into the same account and we both spend/pay out of it. No split when youā€™re married. Now unmarried would be a different story.

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If you live together id say pay both your bills then split the rest

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If youā€™re married then money shouldnā€™t be seperated like that imo

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50/50ā€¦if you live alone you would have to pay 100 percent!!

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We still split the bills. Like his checks pays the house paymt. My checks pay the utilities and car insurnace etc which equals to the house payment

If youā€™re married I dont believe in there being a yours and mine I believe in everything becoming ā€œoursā€ it shouldnt matter who makes more as long as the bills are paid at the end of the month

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My husband and I have a joint account that what marriage is all about why be married if u donā€™t become one

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Depends on the other personā€™s spending habits when it comes to joint accounts. I will never have a joint account with my spouse. Heā€™s got bad spending habits. Iā€™m not going to work 12 hour shifts, pay my portion of the bills while he blows his money and mine. Every situation is different, this is what just works for us.

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I guess Iā€™m the only weird one because Iā€™ve always kept my money separate. Iā€™ve always had a stash men donā€™t know about. :woman_shrugging:

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We donā€™t split the bills we split the checks. We each have a personal account and a shared bill account. Half my check goes into bill account (I make more) half of his goes into bill account. I pay bills and move the excess to savings. We each have mad money. Works for us, and itā€™s ALL our money but it helps us feel like we have some person choice and control on spending here and there. The rule is anything over $100.00 should be discussed no matter what account. That hasnā€™t worked out perfectly but itā€™s a work in progress

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There is no ā€œmine/yoursā€ in a marriage. Both contribute toward a joint future in a joint relationship. Each contributes everything they have ā€¦ not only in finances, but in all areas.

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We make about the same. He makes a little more. He pays the big bills. I pay the smaller ones and grocery. Also I get whatever the kids need. We help each other if one falls short or whatever. Itā€™s our money together. We are a team.

My boyfriend makes quite a bit more then me so he handles most of the bills. Where I will pay for the kids things, 50% of groceries, insurance, phones, and our oldest childcare. He pays more because it wouldnā€™t be fair for my to pay the same as him and be completely broke at the end of the month.

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Whatever works for you, might not work for the next. Communicate with your partner & go from there.

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We split them in our house and have for 20 years.

My husband and I both work - I work from home but he does make slightly more than I do. We have two joint accounts then I have a personal, Iā€™m just lazy and havenā€™t added him to it. He still is fully aware whatā€™s in there if he wants to know. My husband pays our house payment and phone bill which is the two biggest bills, then he has his truck payment. I cover my car payment, insurance for both vehicles, our electricity, groceries, and WiFi. I think thatā€™s all our bills :woozy_face: thatā€™s just how weā€™ve always done it, and whatever money we have left over is at our own expense for things we want.
Weā€™ve never had any issues, but I personally have never felt comfortable with ONE joint account because I used to work at a bank and I just donā€™t trust someone not hacking in and taking every penny we have vs having another account and not having ALL of your money in one place.

I pay all bills he just get thing if I anti got he money

There is no 50/50. One household one wallet

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Its all our money there is no his or mine for anything hasnt been since the day we started dating 6 years ago and never had any issues

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I pay what Iā€™m able with my paychecks, and then he pays the rest. And when he canā€™t pay, I pay what he canā€™t.

Do a joint account and have everything just come out of that

Whatever works best. Every couple is different

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He pays mortgage
I pay all utilities

He makes more than me. But the mortgage is more than all the utility bills combined so itā€™s a fair in my eyes.

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We have a joint account for house bills and then separate accounts. As long as my bills are paid I donā€™t care whether Iā€™m contributing more than 50. Iā€™ve done 100% more than once over the years. Iā€™ve owned my house for many years so its my responsibility in my eyes. Regardless of who else is living here.

This is something thatā€™s gonna change from relationship to relationship tho. And something that should be well talked out ahead of time.

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We did a joint account and put a certain percent of our income in and paid all bills from that. So like 3%. Then if he made 50k he put in 1500 a month and I made 60k i put in 1800 it was always kinda fair.

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Me and my hubby have a joint account where both our wages are paid into. We transfer an equal amount into each of our own personal accounts for whatever we want and rest Stays in joint account to pays the bills etc :laughing: x

We split bills. One of the leading causes of relationships/marriages ending is problems with money! So WE decided to bypass that completely and thatā€™s what works best for US. When we go to the store we half groceries, he pays rent, I pay the rest. Of course, if either of us is ever short on anything, we can ask the other. Weā€™re both really good with our money so itā€™s rare that we ever need each otherā€™s help. :slight_smile:

My fiancĆ© makes much more then me and also understands that I have medical debt coming out my ears and Iā€™m trying to get on my feet now at 30 unlike much earlier in life bc I was so sick. She only requires me to cook and clean the house as my contribution to the relationship until I am financially stable enough to put in towards bills and such. I also tend to buy groceries when needed but we use subscription boxes for dinners

How me and my man work. We combine our money together donā€™t matter how much each other has, we take out rent and bills and split the remainder so we can both have spending money. We work as team and live the same. We have our own separate accounts but consider all household money equal and that despite who makes more or less we contribute more then just money so we feel itā€™s balanced. He makes more then me but I do more with the house an animals then he can.

Is it a marriage or are yā€™all room mates? I mean if youā€™re married there should be no his or hers. Only ours. Thatā€™s the entire point of a marriageā€¦ pay what needs paid why keep score? In my family whoever has the money at that time pays that bill or gets that item needed.

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My husband pays all the bill and I pay for groceries and kids and any extras

50/50 isnā€™t fair if one earns more. We try to have a equal amount of spending money left. Some months I pay more, some months he pays more. Itā€™s team work.

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Donā€™t know about split. We are 1. That means all income is ours. When you have kids their ours. Not mine or hisā€¦ last time it was split was when we were in our teens. Going on 17yrs this year and last 15yrs has been joint. He makes a shit load more than me too.but he got to climb in his job 10yrs ago while I had the kids. Iā€™m a manager now and he still reaps in nearly double annually. Team effort.

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We donā€™t mingle funds, each has our own accounts and bills that we are responsible for. Mixing money in past relationships has always caused issues

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I could never do a joint account. My money is my money. :woozy_face:

If youā€™re married, his money IS your money and your money IS HIS money. If one of you is concerned about fairness in regards to who pays more or wondering is it fair, than your marriage isnā€™t a partnership.

There might come a time when one of you is laid off, working less hours or God forbid hospitalized and the other will pay 100% of the bills for a time period. Marriage is like that. Sometimes one person carries a heavier load, and down the road itā€™s the other person.

Donā€™t worry about what is fair. Neither one of you should be making huge purchases without discussion with the other, and youā€™re both responsible for household expenses AS A TEAM.

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I personally find it SO odd that married couples have separate accountsā€¦but maybe Iā€™m just weird. My husband and I have had a joint account since we were 18. Are yall roommates or a couple, a team striving for the same goals?

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We have never done a 50/50 split in our household. Over the years the way we handle our bills has fluctuated, but right now my wife pays the mortgage, her car payment, and for most of the groceries and pay my car payment, and all our reoccurring monthly bills (utilities, phone, insurance, and credit card bills). Every household is different and has to come up with a system based on what works best.

My husband and I both share an account & money. We both put our money in the bank and pay our bills and then just buy whatever we want. If itā€™s a big spend we talk to each other. Weā€™ve been together for 5, married for 2.

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What worked for us when we were both workingā€¦we put my checks to bigger bills because I got paid bi-weekly.
We put his checks towards smaller bills and household essentials because he was paid bi-weekly.
Eventually we put him on my bank account and it was ā€œourā€ money and ā€œourā€ bills.

I think itā€™s strange that people can be married and yet so possessive and unwilling to actually work together on things

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My spouse makes more and while we did 50/50 for a while, he does pay more now and we both feel like itā€™s fair. Whenever we did 50/50 he had to contribute to my fun money. In the end itā€™s a wash. We donā€™t keep tallyā€™s on each other.

We have 2 accounts 1 is for car payment which my husband pays. The other account is we both pay the bills together n what not

Itā€™s really up to the discretion of the spouses. Me and my husband 50/50 everything even the kids. We put the same amount of money towards the bills each month. I got the kids 6:30am-8pm he takes the night shift. Whatever money we have left over from contributing to the bills is ours so if we want something we just work a little harder to get it.

Also the taxes are split he get a certain amount and I get a certain amount (both equals, it just depends on how much we get back) and the rest goes towards the kids and our house.

I donā€™t think thereā€™s any correct answer hereā€¦ I think itā€™s dependent on what each person is able to bring to the partnership, not only measured in $ but in total contributions to the household. :thinking:

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We throw all our money together and pay our bills and buy whatever is needed or wanted or whatever. I see no reason to have it split like that. But I guess if I was living with a roommate and bills were split, no matter income it would be split 50/50. So if that how you chose to do financials in your relationship I feel like it would be the same

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We have a joint and each have a savings . House team effort regardless of who makes more ā€¦ that doesnā€™t even come into the equation.

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I believe that there should be no more strain on the one than the other. If one spends letā€™s say 60% of their salary on responsibilities then the other should also. Instead of 50/50 responsibility

If you agree to 50/50 then yes. Or you can split based on income share so if one makes 60% of the combined income they could pay 60% of the bills. But you have to have that discussion and come to an agreement.

Simple: each partner or spouse put in weekly or bi a certain amount to cover billsā€¦you 400.00 him 400.00.even if you make more

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All of our Money goes into 1 account. From there I budget and pay bills. My husband has never worried about whether something was being paid. He has all he needs because I do all the shopping. He says I want this, and I buy it for him.
He says this is the way it should be.

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My husband and I have a joint accout but we also have our own accounts. We have $100 from each paycheck go to our own accounts and then everything else goes to the joint. All the household expenses come out of the joint account. Bills get covered and needs are met yet we also have our own spending money. For bigger purchases we discuss it first.

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It should be based by what you bring in. If he makes more than he can pay more on his end but if you make more than you pay more. Sit down and see how they can be split up. Lay them out and do your part. If one makes say $15 an hour and other is $20 an hour then the one making more can pay more.

When I moved in with my ex he wanted to pay all the mortgage and his car and insurance because that was that was his. I paid half of the rest of the bills and took care of my own car and insurance.

We always just put our money together. We do have a monthly budget though so we each get a certain amount a month as fun money.

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Iā€™ve always thought it was so strange not having joint accounts.

All of our money goes into one account and we pay bills together. We are a team and share housework as well.
At different times of our lives we have made more money than the other.
Heā€™s also worked (and paid for everything) while I was in school two different times to further my nursing education the same as I worked while he was laid off twice.
Marriage is a team, yā€™all arenā€™t roommates.

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Tbh joint accounts was never for me. Everyone deserves to have their own sense of security when it comes to money. Especially these days where couples split up/divorce just for breathing too loud. Household bills, I pay 1/2 the mortgage and the electric bill. He pays for everything else.

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both should pay their half of the bills, the rest of the income you can figure otu together

I always wonder how people who split money live. Like at the end of the month the one with the crappier pay is at home making a pack of Ramen and the rich spouse is like too bad for you, Iā€™m going out for a steak dinner. :rofl:

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IMO the percent income you both have should be the percent income you put out for bills. Jane makes 25% of the income Jim makes 75%, then Jane contributes 25% to the bills, Jim 75%. They each put their own money up, and they each contribute to a joint savings account. That way when Jim walks Jane ainā€™t flat broke ( or vice versa). This is basic common sense, honestly. If one person only makes 1000 a month why would they have to pay 1000 toward mortgage? They would have nothing left for themselfā€¦. kinda pointless to even work at that point.

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Why bother getting married? Sounds like roommates with benefits

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One bank account and communication :woman_shrugging:

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You do what works for you two, not what everyone else does.

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I make more i cover the mortgage and insurances he covers all other bills. We have our own spending money and any big purchases we discuss together

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My boyfriend makes more than me. Iā€™d pay utilities heā€™d pay all the bigger Billā€™s. Like rent, car payments, and Iā€™d pay, water, electric, and stuff like that.

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This question should be self answered

Coming from a relationship where my ex would have the say in where every cent of our money was spent and used most of it on himself, it lowkey scares me the amount of people saying all money should be sharedšŸ˜¶

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I think it just depends on your relationship I guess ? My man has always made more than me , before we had kids he paid most of the bills , I paid a couple small ones. After kids I stayed home w/our first for 3 years and now that Iā€™m back at work the only bills I pay are my car payment & the baby sitter because he makes exponentially more than me.

Mine makes more hourly than I do always has and usually gets more hours than me so I expect him to pay more. For awhile there I was barely getting hours and my checks were between 150-300 and my half of rent would be 250 plus the mdu in my name. I always got mad that he would expect me to pay it all. Like whereā€™s the logic.

I know I maybe wrong for this, but the man should be the provider. Not saying he should pay everything, but the majority.

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All money is OUR money in my relationship. I pay most of the bills but whatever I need I can always ask him. The only thing I donā€™t agree with in everything being our money is that when my parents are gone and I have 1/3 of that money, that is mine, because I will do what I want with it. I will be doing a prenup because I want him to understand my wants before we hate each other.

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My husband makes quite a bit more than me, so even before we were married, he has been responsible for rent, lights/gas, and internet. Iā€™m responsible for the groceries, and any needs that the kids have. We also each pay our own portion of the phone bill/car insurance.

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We share a bank account, definitely donā€™t confirm whose exact change is paying for anything ā€¦

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We pay the bills together and first thing. Then we can decide what to do with our own $. We have a savings account for emergency funds.
If we donā€™t have any cash left over we at least know our bills are covered

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Yall live together. It doesnā€™t matter who gets paid more, someone pay the damn bills.

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We have a joint account and I pay all bills and expenses from that, after those are paid we communicate anything we want to spend thats more than $50

We never split our money. It was together as one. We would sit down and pay all the bills together. And what was left we split. He could spend one whatever and j could spend on whatever. But now, Iā€™m a stay at home mom so he pays everything.

To each their own you should to sit with your partner and have a chat . Relationships thrive off of communication and compromise. Itā€™s a very healthy thing to do. I made way less then my S/O and he only took a small portion of each pay check of mine to go into his bank account where heā€™d save money for rent and bills . It worked perfectly for us and I mean like he made double of what I was making . So it was only fair :woman_shrugging:t2: I guess that answers the question. I had just enough money left to get through the week as far as gas and food went I also paid my own phone bill of Course and I would buy ALL the stuff for the house , soaps , cleaning products , toilet paper etc. we would take turns buying diapers and stuff but communication goes a very long way

How do you start a discussion like this lol

We have a joint bank account and pay everything together.

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It depends on the relationship, honestly. Talk with your s/o about it

Me and my husband have been a married 46 years .Itā€™s not his money and my money itā€™s our money. Both checks go into the bank and bills are paid and that is that.Nevet been a problem.

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Well thereā€™s one person I lived with for 8 years he paid all the bills I use food stamps to buy groceries the first time has been we was not even paying bills cuz we were walking not working at the time going here and there so my the third person I was with I married he took every penny he could get and my lottery tickets and Iā€™m not talking about a little bit later tickets Iā€™m talking about he would get his sonā€™s disability check and my daughterā€™s disability check and spend every time on lottery tickets till there was no more money left so we really didnā€™t have bills that we paid every so often after the lights are water or get turned off then we would find a way to get the money but it was basically me paying the bills and since 2010 Iā€™ve been by myself since 2019 I started paying all the bills by myself cuz Iā€™m the only one who lives in the house my daughter moved in with me at one point and was supposed to help pay bills she didnā€™t but I got it down now perfect I pay all my bills donā€™t have nobody else pay for me I got it

IMO - No matter who makes more it should always be 50/50 or pretty close. Bills should never be on one person. (This is my opinion if both are working not talking about any parent who stays home obviously)ā€¦ itā€™s just nice to have that extra help for your partner. If I work and my partner works and they paid nothing and lived with me Iā€™d just rather be single since Iā€™m doing it all anyways. It isnt fair for everything to be on one.

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If youā€™re married both incomes are yours and all bills are yours. And same the other way around. Lol. Youā€™re financially a team and one entity as far as finances go. Just have to be organized and obviously have to have a trusting marriage for success.

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We have our money go to the same account and use it to pay bills

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Everyone is different, but in my opinion, there is no his/mine. All of our bank/credit accounts are joint. All money deposits into one account and then we pay what needs to be paid, get what needs to be gotten and then whatever is left is just whatever. Some gets saved, sometimes he spends on what he wants, sometimes I spend on what I want and sometimes we both spend. We always discuss major purchases before hand.

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We share everything my money is his money & his money is my money.

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Not married but been together a while have 2 kids he has his account I have mine he pays for the utilities and his schooling I pay house payment (was mine before we got together) and daycare we both like having our own accounts and our bills arnt 50/50 but it all works out I pay more bills his insurance is higher then mine I buy all the food he pays when we go out

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We make close to the same now, but when my husband made more than me, more of ā€œhisā€ income naturally went towards bills. We never really did 50/50 while dating or engaged, and as a married couple, it all just goes together in the same account so we really donā€™t pay any attention to whoā€™s goes where. Itā€™s ALL ours.

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I donā€™t know, me and my husband put our money together and make sure all our bills and such get paid

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Been married for 18 years and we have separate accounts always have I came from a very abusive toxic relationship before him and said I would never depend on anyone again and I havenā€™t he understand iqm a very independent woman I pay anyt6asked of me but he makes a whole lot more than me when I was working since being sick and niw unable to work before he paid everything never would let me pay for anything he only asked that I help give the kids what they want and need and that is what I do he pays all household bills vehicles insurance all utilities and I pay credit cards and anything our kids need so having your own financial freedom is nothing wrong with that as long as it works for you

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