Adults are messy enough when it comes to love, sex and relationships. But for real rachetness, add money to the mix. Too many people pay dearly both emotionally and financially because they insist on treating love as a form of currency, like the yen or Euro, with an exchange rate convertible to U.S. dollars. For examples of the relationship disasters that result, just look at television court shows like Judge Judy (one of our favorites for observing adult-and-messy thinking in a controlled environment). For love, people will commit all manner of financial foolery, including:

1. Spending lavishly on gifts, travel and food (with money that suddenly become “loans” after the break-up).

2. Paying the mortgage, rent, utilities and other bills of healthy, able-bodied, yet unemployed adults (often even when those paying have their own children to feed).

3. Co-signing on credit cards and mobile phone service for people who can’t get these on their own because of horrible credit and/or a checkered employment history. (Meaning the payer is taking a risk that a major bank or national cell phone provider wouldn’t take.)

BMWK –  read the remaining mistakes in the article STOP FINANCIAL FOOLERY IN THE NAME OF LOVE by BY Zara Green and Alfred Edmond JR.  Then, come back and let us know if you’ve ever made any of these financial mistakes in the name of love.