We initially tried a hybrid approach like yours, but it turned out to punish me (the gal in the relationship) for many of my purchases. My husband gets a great haircut for $28 every two months, and he bought a fancy beard trimmer for $40 that’s lasted him four years. We have similar office dress codes, which essentially require a styled/neat appearance, which means expectations for my makeup, hair, and attire. Even if I were only buying drugstore makeup and painting my own nails, I’d still have to get expensive haircuts, buy hair products, pay for dry cleaning, etc. That made it really tough for us to feel like our allowance was equal. Ultimately, after about six months of feeling frustrated, we switched to a totally combined approach. When we’ve bought the other a present or something like that, we explicitly tell them not to look at Mint until after their birthday, but it also encourages us to think about joint experiences, rather than discretely-owned things.