Edmonton Journal has reported that the cost of love is $43,842.08. They were quoting figures calculated by Rate Supermarket, who looked at the average costs for a period of two years of dates ending in a wedding. They looked in to the costs of the wedding, engagement and dates and came up with this figure. The dates cost around $7,000, the engagement $9,000 and the wedding $27,000.
The president of rate Supermarket, Kelvin Mangaroo explained that although the calculations were a lot of fun, they are important because finances can be a big reason for break ups in marriages and long term relationships.
- Joint Financial Decisions:
It is so important to make sure that the financial decisions that are made are joint ones. As long as both sides of the couple agree, then there is no need for arguments to happen between them. Obviously there may be discussions and disagreements, but once you get used to each other and the sorts of things you both feel are important, this will help.Whether buying a new item, making a new investment or taking out a loan, it is important to talk about finances. Hiding bills and things like that can cause big problems as they are likely to get discovered anyway. It is far better to be honest from the start and make sure that you discuss every financial decision.
- Keeping Spending Down:
It is worth considering spending habits. Think about the things that you buy and make sure that they are really needed. If you spend less money, you will have more chance of being able to save up. You will need to find money to pay for an engagement and wedding and after that you may have babies. Children are even more expensive and so getting in to good spending habits from the start, can be a sensible thing to do.
- Keeping Earnings Up:
Another way to make sure that you always have plenty of money is to keep earning well. Keep looking for that overtime or promotion. Sell items when you have finished with them and even consider having several jobs. It is important to try to put aside as much money as you can while you can. Once you have children, there will be the need for someone to care for them and that may mean that only one member of the partnership will be able to work. This means that the household income will reduce a lot and you may be glad to have some savings to fall back on.So love can be extremely expensive, but it does not need to be. It is worth being prepared for expenses though and working hard to earn more and save less so that it is not such a concern. It is also important to discuss all financial decisions together so that there is no reason for disagreements with regards to money, in the future. Many couples split up because of disagreements about money, so make sure that you are working together from the start.
Mike is an expert relationship counselor and writes articles for many websites. His recent article http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/business/story.html?id=c29abc07-d41d-4093-aa51-4452649c0549 is a calculation of the money to be spend on marriage.