Romantics vehemently claim that money can’t buy love. While there is no proof to debunk the theory that money can induce love, there is absolutely no denying that money can make or break a relationship. Regardless of your age or social status, money plays a very important role in every relationship. At A Bankruptcy Law Firm, LLC, we’ve experienced firsthand the ugly toll finances can take on love, but our view on the subject has historically been limited to the clients that walk into our office.
How does money influence St. Louis relationships as a whole? We were interested in finding out, which is why we conducted our own money and love study and randomly surveyed 150 St. Louis residents who were either married or cohabitating with a partner. The results are as follows.
Money Creates A Lot of Stress
It would appear approximately 10% of St. Louis couples are unhappy with their relationship and most cite money issues as the main culprit.
How Much Stress Does Money Cause On St. Louis Relationships?
Whether happy or not, 35% of all St. Louis couples identified money as the biggest stressor on their relationship. Money was ranked higher than any other relationship stressor, including parenting (20%), poor communication (18%), and sex, or lack thereof (12.7%).
Do St. Louis Couples Have The Same Approach To Money And Budgeting?
Why is money negatively impacting relationships? Couples just aren’t on the same page when it comes to their finances. An overwhelming 48.7% of residents in St. Louis don’t believe their partners have the same approach to money and budgeting and 65.3% of individuals have argued with their partner over money related issues.
What Is The Largest Cause of Money Related Arguments In St. Louis?
Of those arguments, 52% of fighting couples identified household budgeting issues as the primary cause. Some finger pointing was involved, as 36% of individuals surveyed felt their partners were guilty of spending more than them and 42.7% believe their significant other overspends.
Financial Infidelity Exists
In addition to the money problems and struggles shared amongst couples, our survey also revealed that a number of St. Louisans are hiding some money problems, or possible would-be money problems from their significant other.
What Percent Of St. Louis Individuals Have Secret Bank & Credit Card Accounts?
Our study found that 13.3% of St. Louis residents have bank accounts or credit cards their spouses don’t know about.
What Percent Of St. Louis Individuals Have Made Secret Purchases Their Partner Didn’t Know About?
Moreover, 16.7% of individuals have made significant purchases of $500 or more without telling their spouses and 12.7% have secretly splurged this year alone.
What Percent Of St. Louis Residents Have Lied To Their Partner About A Purchase?
Financial infidelity runs deeper than just hiding accounts and purchases. 30.7% of St. Louis individuals have flat-out lied to their spouse or significant other about the true cost of a purchase. Clearly, discussing finances is quite the quandary in many St. Louis households and it’s a problem that isn’t being properly addressed.
How Should You Handle Money With Your Honey?
Whether you view it as a serious problem or not, financial infidelity can have grave consequences for your relationship. The best policy for handling finances is to be completely transparent with your financial activities. Still, tricky conversations about subjects involving money aren’t necessarily the best to discuss on the fly. Couples should instead dedicate one night a month to sit down and discuss finances. During these discussions, you can formulate ground rules together. Take the time to flesh out a limit on how much you and your partner can spend before consulting each other.
Remember, positive nurturing environments help to facilitate honest discussion. Focus on meeting shared money goals rather than dwelling on financial missteps like excessive credit card spending or poor investments. If you and your significant other can work towards shared financial goals, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish together.
If you are reading this article because you are already feeling the financial stresses on your marriage or relationship, then bankruptcy can oftentimes eliminate most or all of your financial burdens, and allow you and your significant other to focus again on LOVE!
Survey Methodology
150 St. Louis residents were emailed 15 question surveys on September 6th, 2017. All 150 respondents are either married or living with a significant other/partner. The results have a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
Important Disclaimer: The information discussed above and throughout this website should not be relied upon to make any decisions without first speaking to a bankruptcy attorney. There are many intricate rules of law governing bankruptcy with many exceptions to the general rules that could change the advice given by an attorney based on the differing facts in each person’s special set of circumstances. THEREFORE, it is important to discuss any information contained in this website with one of our attorneys before taking any action or refraining from taking any action.
