Feeling the strain: how to ease financial stress

FINANCIAL WORRIES can put a serious strain on a relationship, so what can you do to make sure money troubles don’t drive you and your other half apart?

John Farrelly, a director at the marriage counselling organisation Accord, has noticed that the number of troubled couples citing financial problems has risen in the last three months. Accord is also encountering more unemployed people.

“They mightn’t necessarily be coming about the problem that someone’s unemployed, but the communication – obviously there are difficulties in terms of stress,” Farrelly says.

Couples who need help in working through their problems should contact one of the 57 Accord centres throughout the country, he suggests.

Michael Culloty of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs) says that in the past, many people were “money rich and time poor”. He feels there could be more pressure on relationships now that people are spending more time together but may have less money.

“They may not have had to budget in the past and now there is a need for agreement, for people to sit down and discuss their new financial situation and plan a way out of it,” he says. “That can be quite difficult if people have to change the way they view one another, the way their view their life and their lifestyle . . .It’s a very complex area and it can be quite difficult for some people to come to terms with.”

Couples experiencing difficulty, perhaps because one person has lost their job, need to maximise their income, he advises. They should find out what their rights are in relation to redundancy and State supports by contacting their nearest Citizens Information Centre (www.citizensinformation.ie).

They should also contact their creditors about their situation and make a budget for affordable and sustainable repayment schedules.

Financial advice can be accessed instantly through the Mabs helpline at 1890 283438.

Farrelly makes the upbeat point that if people lose out in one area of their lives, they will gain in another. “Life is about love and work. When you’re suffering on the work end, there’s a possibility of investing more in your love.”

CAROLINE MADDEN