Peter and I have been together for seven years. Two years ago we moved in together. He worked as an administrative clerk at a mid-sized company, and it went bankrupt nine months ago. By now he is unemployed.

Money worries in our relationship are an everyday thing. For two years my company has repeatedly cut hours, salaries have been reduced, and the holiday bonus and vacation pay were scrapped long ago.

We live in Chicago and our rent has already gone up sharply twice. So it was inevitable that money worries in our relationship would plague us. This month it has gotten really bad. We don't want to borrow from anyone, and certainly not from our parents. But the problems keep growing, and money worries in our relationship are slowly overshadowing our previously happy relationship.

Money Worries in a Relationship and the Rent Comes Due

We now have three days left, and then one of us has to transfer the rent. So far we don't know how we're going to do it. Money worries in a relationship are not trouble halved. It is an extreme burden for each of us. This month we are simply $400 short. By now it has become clear to us that we both need a side job, or rather that my boyfriend above all needs a job again. Nothing has happened on that front so far, and that is how the money worries in our relationship came about.

I'll have to talk to my bank about whether I can raise my overdraft limit. I see that as the only solution at the moment.

Money worries in a relationship

Money Worries in a Relationship and Hope Dies Last

Still, that's not a solution, and I think my partner simply has to take a job now, even one he doesn't like much. Because life is just expensive:

  • Rent and utilities
  • Groceries
  • Clothing
  • A vacation would be nice
  • New couch
  • Activities cost money
  • and much more

The situation makes me very sad. Money worries in our relationship are overshadowing us, and by now I can feel my feelings slowly fading. So much rests on my shoulders, and I don't feel he carries as much as I do.

Maybe I'm being unfair now, because it isn't his fault, but he is incredibly picky when it comes to a new employer. He doesn't want to commute more than 30 miles and also wants a holiday bonus and vacation pay. It just doesn't work that way, and from my point of view he has to understand that. He finds that hard, being an Aries. He wants to go through the wall headfirst, but sooner or later he'll have to change, because otherwise I'm gone.