Relationships can be tough enough to sustain without the added pressure of keeping up with the Joneses. In today’s material world, some couples feel that they have to keep up with with neighbors and friends in possessions from their homes to their cars, jewelry, clothing and even activities and memberships to clubs.
If, as a couple, you have the money to go tick for tack in your neighborhood, it can still pose a problem, but that problem becomes compounded when money is an issue. And the problem becomes even worse when one partner is more obsessed with material possessions than the other.
The latter two scenarios can wreak havoc in even the best of relationships. Money is the number one reason for arguments between couples and is one of the top reasons for divorce. When a couple in a lower income bracket than their peers attempts to compete with material gain, frustration sets in that manifests itself in the relationship as resentment toward each other.
When one partner is more concerned with what they have and always wants more, the relationship becomes even more difficult. The one who desires everything resents the partner who cannot either give it to them or help them get it, and the one who cares less about “things” becomes disconnected and cannot understand the insatiable lust for objects that the other has.
So how does a relationship battle this type of storm? Well typically once a couple delves into this slippery slope, there are already underlying problems that have pushed them to the edge already. It is important to re-evaluate how you feel about each other and take a look at what really may be going on. Sometimes those feeling unfulfilled by their sex life, look to material acquisitions to give them that same high they once shared through love making. Loss of intimacy, communication or desire for the other partner can be a huge culprit setting off a chain reaction that results in the need for more and more “things.”
If this happens in your relationship, work at restoring what you once had. Take the time to get to know each other again and do the simple things that once made you happy. A picnic, a bike ride, going to the beach, a candlelit dinner, etc. Reconnect and communicate more and once your fire is re-ignited, I bet you would rather snuggling your old couch with a bottle of wine than that expensive dress and heels, or his new Ferrari.