<prompt> Human: My girlfriend and I have been together for 6.5 years. Im 31, shes 29. Were planning on doing the marriage thing and buying a house in the next few years. As of now, we live in an apartment. She has a son that I adore. Our finances are not co-mingled. She has her money, I have mine, and we talk about who needs to pay what bills. Its a 6040 split, and I carry the 60. Sometimes she pays for dinner, sometimes I pay for the groceries. It all works out.In April, we decided that wed sock away her tax return. Wanted to use it as a down payment for a house. Today, I find out that shes spent most of it- theres only about 1000 left.Shes been irresponsible with money before. Weve talked about it. I trusted her with the tax refund, and now its gone. Tonight, as I was screaming at her for squandering the house down payment, she broke into tears and said that she just couldnt help herself. Then she asked me if I could just take over all of the finances.Shes mentioned it before, and Ive considered it before. Taking over the finances, and letting her have a sort of allowance for her expenses- it seems like pooling our money would give it more power, more oomph. I used to fear that it would lead to loathing and hatred of me- the guy that keeps all of her hard-earned money and tells her how much she has to spend. This is why Ive never followed through on taking over everything.At 31, I cant help but feel as if were woefully behind on savings accounts, emergency funds, house purchasing, etc.Im over it. If my taking over the finances was her idea, and the current arrangement isnt working, then why not try it?Im looking for any and all opinions, perspectives and comments. Thanks in advance for your help.PS- I lurk here. Just transferred my 401k to Vanguard. Ive lost 3 in less than a month. Heres to the long term...TL;DR: Our finances are not co-mingled. Shes terrible with money. She squandered our small down-payment for a house. Shes asked if I will take over the finances, and just tell her how much she has to spend. Should I? Im scared shell hate me for being the budget bullly.  <response>: I wouldnt recommend taking over till marriage. The hare thing is the tax refund was hers, even if you had both agreed itd be saved. Ifwhen you do take over finances its not permission for her just to tune out. She needs to stay informed and involved even if you handle the paperwork, bill paying, etc. It sounds like she was throwing a bone because she felt bad for spending what shed agreed to save. 