Interesting.

We have come across some of these issues already. We all own shares (in different companies), I own property outside of the one we live in which I rent out, two of us have significant savings, some of us are ocassionally eligible for bonuses, etc.

And so, in true poly style, we talk about it. Respectively: share income is small and it’s currently treated as negligible, although in practice it is used to treat us all, my rental income is averaged over a period, after costs, and treated as earned income, savings are ignored although it’s typically those with savings that make expensive up-front payments for mutual costs like holidays, house alterations, our new car etc. and then gradually reclaim from the rest (because we’d rather that the richest of us lose out on a little interest than that the poorest of us gain interest-bearing debt), bonuses are treated as negligible because for us, they are, but in practice they often go on treats that we all share.

And the baby? She’s a shared cost. Just because she’s not ‘mine’ doesn’t make her any less a part of my family.

That’s our answers to those questions, but they’re not everybody’s, I’m sure. You’re absolutely right to bring them up, and and family whose cashflow is affected by issues like these should, too! As I mentioned in my post, the spreadsheet I shared is a simplified version of ours (and that in turn is a simplified model of reality), abs it’s only meant to serve as a foundation for your own models. Just like polyamory itself, I’m not interested in telling you the ‘right’ way to do it: I just wanted to share one of the tools that helped us to find the right way for us!

Thanks again for your thoughts: I hope that others who are considering ways in which to blend their incomes fairly will see your valuable points and that it’ll help their discussion!