Smart Finances: Why Financial Responsibility is the New Attraction

Image Credit: @micki/Twenty20

For more than half of Americans, Valentine's Day is a day to spend big — in 2018, an average of $143.56, according to estimates. It's an occasion for expensive jewelry, elaborate dinners, and not-yet-discounted candy. All of that is lovely, of course, but too bad more and more of us find it all a big turnoff.

According to a survey just released by WalletHub, 40 percent of respondents said that spending irresponsibly is a worse quality in a date or a partner than bad breath. The same number said they'd break up with a person who consistently made irresponsible spending choices. That's not what bothers people most, however — that honor goes to keeping financial secrets.

At the same time, almost one-third of millennial respondents said they'd kept a bank account secret from their partner, what the survey terms "financial infidelity." We may have our reasons; 44 percent of women and 27 percent of men said they wouldn't date someone with bad credit. More than half wouldn't marry someone with bad credit, and about 8 in 10 say bad credit is worrisome and a huge red flag.

Of course, there are all sorts of reasons one's credit might be in trouble, given our generation's intense debt load and today's general cost of living versus wages. Try not to freak out too much about this survey, but also consider that ultimately, you don't have to go big to show how you feel — it really is the thought that counts.