Is getting into a relationship healthy for our finances?
I thought so, at least for the ladies because they don’t need to pay for the meals. Right? Then I found out that two years had passed and my friend is still paying for her ex-credit card bills. I have naively thought that guys are more prone to be victimised if a girl loves money more than him. Rupa-nya, there’s equally high chance of ladies that will fall into the money blind relationship trap. Ouch.
One plus one equals to two is the first equation we learned as a child. Yet, in the real magical world, additional one can become many wonderful things. In chemistry, when you mix two substance together, what you get is not two but many products of a reaction. Same goes to finance. Yes, $1 is always $1, and $1 + $1 is $2 when you have a little, but after a certain threshold, any extra $1 changes the value of everything – from the type of coffee you drink, the route you take to work, up to the potential numbers in your portfolio.
And the best of all, both of you don’t need to work an extra bit for it, you just need to manage it together.
It would be awesome to get someone on board to your financial journey. With the right people, it’s very obvious that these will happen:
- Earning two income.
- Living cost sharing – the rent, the electricity, cost of a meal.
- Have someone to count on in life crisis.
And there are those who will make you miserable financially, even if you have yet to notice.
- People who rack up credit card bills.
- A person with very different financial goals.
- People who want you to pay for the lifestyle they can’t afford – from food to travel
It doesn’t matter if we are wise – we are equally vulnerable when it comes to dealing with finance for relationships. I have seen how my smart, genius and successful friends are being used as an ATM substitute for the longest time. It is easy to deal with sticky friends but apparently you won’t feel it when you are in love, no matter how smart you are – money is just a small sacrifice that you willing to pay – until you broke up and realised that you spent tens of thousands or even more. Or you may feel obliged to pay even more so after things don’t turn out well.
If you are in the miserable shoe, I hope you would deal with the person or yourself and come out unharmed.
I am grateful that I have not got into that mess and I don’t do that to people – unless I hinted and hinted and you didn’t get that I just don’t like you. I had come across people whom I suspect, ask me out because they thought my payroll is prettier than theirs – flattered but the warning signs were clear. It’s truly a dangerous world outside this blog.