Create one shared layer above separate accounts
The shared layer contains the household budget, agreed expense categories, split rule, and record of who paid. It does not need to expose either person’s unrelated personal transactions.
Choose how purchases enter the system
Add expenses manually, capture eligible Apple Pay purchases, or import existing shared history. Consistency matters more than the capture method: both partners should know what is included.
Settle with context
A settlement should show the previous balance, new shared expenses, registered payments, and current total. Couplesplit can also close only through last month, preserving current-month activity for the next cycle.
Review the plan, not each other
Use budget and category trends to discuss the system. The goal is to identify whether the plan still fits, not to assign moral meaning to every line item.