Love and money

When two people find love with each other they become linked in many ways. They spend time together from social outings to holidays to daily life. They often live together, perhaps buying a house or renting a new home together. Some couples decide to start a family by having a baby together or adopting.

A big way that couples become intertwined especially when taking relationship steps such as living together or having a family is financially.

All couples will decide what personally works best for them when it comes to their finances, perhaps keeping separate accounts and spitting responsibility for paying bills down the line or maybe having a joint account and looking at their money together as a whole for all expenses together.

Whatever way you decide to manage your finances as a couple the key thing to remember to do is to talk about money. Your partner’s spending habits or money problems could impact on you. So being open and honest about all things money is important for any relationship.

Whilst love and money can be difficult to couple together harmoniously especially as many people consider talking about money taboo or are too embarrassed or worried to tell their partner about money woes, having a relationship where both parties are honest about money can make a world of difference in making a relationship work.

As money makes the world go round it is no surprise that it can cause a lot of emotional turmoil for people. When in a couple it can cause lots of friction and relationship issues. From daily expenditures to big financial outgoings or problems a couple’s finances can relationship with their money a as a couple can make the difference in whether money impacts negatively on their relationship.

Here are just a few financial pressures a couple can face -

* Taking on debts that a partner had before they coupled

* Buying or renting a house together

* Planning a family

* Redundancy or cuts in wages

* Unexpected bills

* Wedding costs

Sadly financial conflicts are one of the most common problems that can ruin relationships. With that in mind here are a few things to remember when it comes to love and money -

* Realise your own baggage and emotional state when it comes to money

* Be honest about financial problems to face them together as a couple

* Look at each others money styles and try to come together to find a style that works best for both of you as a couple

* Avoid keeping money matters as secrets as the strain of keeping financial secrets can take its toll and the broken trust that keeping secrets can impact negatively on a relationship

Keeping finances separate from love is very difficult. For example,if you have long term debt and bad credit but as a couple need or want to get a loan if you have kept your money difficulties a secret from your partner this will cause problems getting that loan. The anger and hurt of the secret could cause relationship issues. If you are honest then together as a couple you can look at options such as asking family to help or you could research loans for bad credit.

When times get tough financially try to keep communication flowing about finances and work together as a couple. If you have an unexpected cost that will making money tight look at options together.

If you find yourself dealing struggling financially and find yourself in debt there are excellent charities you can turn to for help such as StepChange.

* Collaborative post