Mention unfaithfulness in a marriage and more then likely your thoughts will focus on sexual relationships. Yet over 50% of divorces are not at all related to sexual unfaithfulness but rather financial unfaithfulness. In today's debt ridden society, the face of unfaithfulness is financial and divorces are happening much more repeatedly as a result of uncovered financial secrets. More often then not, women are financially unfaithful compared to men however financial unfaithfulness is wide ranging and will annihilate a marriage as quickly as sexual unfaithfulness.
Young married couples and debt are common however, they also form a cocktail for marital ruin. Often with a young married couple, one of the partners will hide certain financial things to prevent confrontations and getting help. As soon as the unfaithfulness begins, it usually does not stop until it hits the point of no return. At this point, financial debts become too big to hide and either the partner will reluctantly bring it up or the other partner will discover it on their own, which will bring with it feelings of great frustration, bitterness and often is the beginning of the end for the marriage, especially if professional help is not seeked out immediately.
Men seem to be less apt to handle the financial unfaithfulness then women and when it is discovered that their spouse has been financially unfaithful then a battle will often begin. So what is a young married couple to do to avoid this disaster?
Be accountable to one another and help each other prepare and maintain a budget. When only one spouse has their hand in control of the cookie jar, temptation can often cause for the hand to dip in more then its fair share. This can often start out innocently but quickly grows into a problem while the other partner sits by innocently unaware of the financial burden that is starting.
If a young couple is set on only having one person in control of the budget, that is fine however it is wise to site together once every week and review the income and expenses and allow for open questions and answers. This will provide that additional step of accountability that is often more then enough to keep the temptation of financial unfaithfulness at bay.
Marital problems that are caused from a lack of financial maturity do cause many best friends to become bitter enemies and in any marriage, it can certainly be the brutal destruction of the foundation for which it stands. If you are hiding financial problems from your spouse, come clean with them immediately and seek out financial guidance. If you are not sharing the budget responsibly currently, then start.
