Are you a financial fibber?

We all tell the odd white lie about our spending. But with 18% of women admitting to hiding how much money they have from their partners, do these lies harm relationships? Our money team investigates…

Take our test to find out

We’re all feeling the squeeze, so it’s not surprising that we often feel bad about ‘extra’ spending. Guilty enough to lie, we wondered? We asked more than 1,000 women how open they were about their finances. Many of us, it seems, are unwilling to be completely truthful about money matters, even to our partners.

Most people would probably agree that knocking a few pounds off the price of a new dress is harmless, but hiding a growing credit card debt from a partner or kidding yourself that you are living within your means when your overdraft suggests otherwise, is bad news. Psychotherapist Phillip Hodson says, ‘Money can shoot a relationship to nothing. Aim for fiscal transparency – even if you have different attitudes to money you should trust your partner and how they deal with finances. Remember that a relationship is a financial alliance as well as an emotional one.’ Take our quiz to uncover the truth about you and your money… Q Do you have a rainy day fund? (a) Yes, I try to keep at least £1,000 in it (b) I don’t have a separate fund – I dip into my savings account

(c) It’s impossible to build one up – in an emergency I raid my current account or use my credit card OUR ADVICE There’s no substitute for a genuinely ring-fenced rainy day fund that’s protected from constant erosion by ordinary monthly spending, and your emergency fund should definitely not be defined by the limit on your credit card. Aim to build up a buffer of three months’ income.

Q Do you know your current account balance?

(a) Yes, to within a pound (b) To the nearest £100 (c) Not really

OUR ADVICE No excuses! It couldn’t be easier to check this – download your bank’s app, use telephone banking or check at cashpoints. Request text alerts for when you near your overdraft limit.

Q What’s your credit card philosophy?

(a) I only use one for buying online or spending abroad

(b) It’s a great way to track all of my monthly spending

(c) It’s a convenient way of borrowing when funds are short OUR ADVICE Think the convenience of paying by card doesn’t influence your purchasing habits? Use cash for a week and see what you save. Card statements are only good for tracking spending if you study them.

Q Do you and your partner share the same attitude to money?

(a) We have a policy of total honesty. If we disagree, we thrash out a compromise!

(b) We argue occasionally, but ultimately we both want the same things in life

(c) Unfortunately not, it’s a constant bone of contention

OUR ADVICE It’s not necessary to share exactly the same financial aspirations as your partner, but it does help if your visions of the future are complementary and can be pursued side-by-side in relative harmony. The only way to achieve this is to talk about money matters and discuss areas of agreement and disagreement.

Q How open are you both about finances?

(a) We have a joint account for everything and never make big purchases without checking with each other (b) We have a joint account for bills, and separate accounts for our own personal spending – that’s private

(c) Not particularly, we’re both independent and adult, why should we have to justify our spending to anyone?

OUR ADVICE However you choose to run your finances as a couple, the essential ingredients for financial harmony are trust and transparency. And while you may think of yourself as financially independent, unless you keep separate accounts and retirement savings, it may be that your financial life is more intertwined with your partner’s than you’d like to admit. If you haven’t already, write a money plan, set spending limits, agree to consult each other before big expenditure and establish a weekly ‘me-time’ allowance that you are free to spend on whatever

you want – no questions asked.