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36<br />
voice<br />
MONEY<br />
can’t buy me love<br />
35%<br />
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To vote on next<br />
month’s poll,<br />
go to www.g3mag.<br />
co.uk<br />
If Heather Mills McCartney was moaning<br />
about £23 million as a settlement, how are<br />
you going to feel if your partnership hits the<br />
rocks and you end up with two Ikea sofas<br />
and half of the dog? Chance Delgado<br />
investigates.<br />
Worse than splitting up and losing all you have<br />
invested in a love affair is staying together and<br />
bickering over cash for the rest of your lives. Money,<br />
or the lack of it, is a main cause of all types of<br />
relationship diffi culties. More than ever, a gay couple’s<br />
money is an issue, since their legal partnership can<br />
divide shared worth. Though they are more popular<br />
with gay couples than with heterosexuals, pre-nup<br />
agreements don’t guarantee anything, as the courts<br />
may choose to ignore them.<br />
Money worries can be much more serious than<br />
an unpaid gas bill: they can lead to depression, stress,<br />
relationship meltdown and sometimes, suicide. Yet<br />
those obsessed with money are often more tense<br />
than those without. High levels of personal debt puts<br />
us under relentless pressure to spend more time<br />
working to pay it off. Also, women living together<br />
almost as two singles who do not have a joint<br />
bank account can experience issues of lack<br />
of trust and commitment, as if one person<br />
is determined not to be absorbed into<br />
‘coupledom’.<br />
Traditionally, a lesbian woman (who does<br />
not expect to get married and share a<br />
man’s wage), has been more self-<br />
Michelle<br />
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“I think if you’re with<br />
someone who has less<br />
money than you, then<br />
buying drinks and little<br />
things for them can<br />
make you feel good<br />
and can really strengthen<br />
the relationship.”<br />
Christina<br />
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“Going out on dates to<br />
the cinema and things<br />
is a massive problem if<br />
one of you hasn’t got any<br />
money. ”<br />
reliant. Without children, her<br />
disposable income will be<br />
higher throughout her life and<br />
she is currently earning £6k<br />
more per year than a straight<br />
woman of her age and status; (a<br />
gay man is earning £10k more than his heterosexual<br />
counterpart). Gender pay gap has narrowed, but now<br />
more of us are deciding to have children, lesbian<br />
fi nancial advantage could erode. But whatever you’re<br />
earning, don’t be under any doubt that part of the<br />
reason there is a growing openness and tolerance to<br />
gays is because of the huge amount of spending<br />
power we have; the pink pound is worth £70 billion<br />
per year! However, given the current global fi nance<br />
problems and the rising cost of living, we are heading<br />
for an economic downturn, so perhaps it’s time we<br />
all reappraised our relationship with money.<br />
Are you the type that ostentatiously waves your<br />
wad… anxious that everyone should know how<br />
well you are doing? People often see this as a<br />
weakness, a conceit, a low self-worth strategy writ<br />
large. <strong>May</strong>be you’re the opposite, shying away from<br />
money, telling everyone that<br />
materialists are shallow. Perhaps<br />
this entrenched position betrays<br />
your anxiety about cash and<br />
your inverted snobbery – your<br />
secret rage that you don’t have<br />
the gift of making dosh.<br />
<strong>May</strong>be you are careless<br />
Chloe<br />
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“I had a long distance<br />
relationship once, and<br />
spending £500 on a<br />
fl ight every time I<br />
wanted to see her just<br />
became impractical.”
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