There are pros and cons when it comes to relationships and money.
Get the mix right and you are your partner could have a propserous future.
Get it wrong and your relationship, as well as your bank balance, is likely to feel the strain.
A survey by counselling service Relate found that money worries, together with redundancy fears, place the biggest strain on relationships, particuarly among the 25 to 54 age groups.
With Valentine's Day looming, we look at the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to love and your bank balance.
The good: Cheaper talk time
When it comes to dating small talk, one question unlikely to come up is what mobile phone package your potential partner is on.
But in those early days of talking 24/7, it’s easy to exceed any inclusive minutes allowance you have.
You could then have to shell out around 35p a minute or more for a phone call to your loved one.
To avoid racking up big bills check if your provider has discounted bolt-on packages.
Or, if you share the same network, ask about free calls if you add each other to a 'friends and family' list.
More good: Shared bills
You can hardly expect your loved one to stump up for their own red roses, but if you’re eating out most couples are happy to split the bill.
Singletons spend an average of £47 on a date, according to research by dating website Match.com.
Now, you might baulk at the idea of whipping out a money-off voucher on a first date, but once you're a couple, date night can become much cheaper thanks to the proliferation of 2 for 1 vouchers.
Sign up to voucher codes websites for the latest promotions and check out restaurant websites aswell.
Confused.com is offering 2-for-1 dining for a year with every home insurance policy purchased before 31st March 2012.
We've partnered with Hi-Life Diners Club to bring you a fantastic selection of over 3,400 participating restaurants nationwide, including the best high street chains and local restaurants.
Even more good: Cut car insurance costs
Couples can pay less for car insurance as some insurers rate you less of a risk if you’re married than when you’re single, as statistically you’re less likely to make a claim.
Emma Banks from insurers LV= says the thinking behind it is that going out in the car as a couple means you’re more likely to tell your partner to be careful or slow down.
The average annual cost of comprehensive cover for drivers is £966, yet add a spouse to the policy and this falls to £478.
These prices are taken from the Confused.com/Towers Watson Car Insurance Price Index for September to December 2011.
The bad: For better, for worse or ‘financially linked?’
You might know the names of your partner's exes but what about your other's half's bad money habits?
If your partner has been in arrears or has debts, and you apply for a joint account or mortgage, any lending decision will be based on what’s on both of your credit files.
So if your partner has a less than perfect credit record, it could see you turned down for credit or not offered the best rates.
In credit terms, you’re considered single until you establish what's known as a joint financial link. You establish such a link by applying for credit together.
So even if you share a house and a surname, if you’ve never shared joint accounts, including a mortgage, then any credit cards, loans or accounts you apply for as an individual shouldn’t be affected by your partner's credit record.
The ugly: You can be liable for their debts
Each person is liable for debts in their own name but with credit cards, it’s the person who’s the 'first name' on the card who has to cough up.
There’s no such thing as a joint credit card, so even if your partner is the one spending on it, if they’re the 'second name' on the card, it’s still your responsibility, as the person who signed the credit agreement, to stump up.
With joint debts, say a mortgage in both names, you’re both equally responsible for the debt warns James Jones from credit reference agency Experian.
So if you fall behind with payments a lender can come after both of you.
And if one of you proves harder to trace than the other they may well chase the person they find first or feel is in a stronger financial position to pay.
