Remember that when you come together, you also take on each other’s financial histories, both debts and investments. Honest disclosure will actually go a long way in bringing you closer. So here are some suggestions about money matters, you can follow before reaching that particular decision:

• If it is possible, try and pay off your individual debts before you get into a shared marital life. Researchers have found that fewer debts brought into marriage, the greater the chances of happiness.

• Discuss all your money matters in management style. Are you a spendthrift or a miser? Do you believe credit is okay? Do you think of sales as a chance to buy what is needed, or an excuse to splurge? Do you manage to keep day to day expenses down, but splurge on large ticket items once in a while? If you invest, do you prefer low risk or high risk investments? The answers to these questions will reveal your attitude to money and debt, and can be indicators of further financial strife of harmony.

• Some couples like to keep accounts separate. Some like joint accounts some prefer to keep their individual accounts as well as one joint account into which each places a set amount of money each month. Of course, the your mine and ours option is usually only possible when both partners are working, and the amount each places in the joint account could perhaps be a percentage of each salary, especially if both are earning widely disparate pay packets.

• Use regular conversations to review spending trends and yes, any impulse buys you may have made. Don’t interrupt while listening to your partner, and if your partner does throw up a spending revelation, don’t explode.

• Make sure both of you know where your money is, in bank accounts, fixed deposits, shares etc. and also keep written records and copies of all your assets and debts.

• Sit down together and work out your monthly expense heads, and how they can be trimmed if necessary. Try to ensure that some money is pushed into savings, and you work long term financial necessities like insurance and medical cover into the scheme.

• Consider keeping a kitty of money for everyday expenses. This will help you immediately work out whether you’re keeping to the allocated budget.

• Work out how much money can comfortably be paid each month towards secured loans, like those for house or car. If you can manage it, think about prepayment.

• Agree that you will consult with your partner before buying anything that costs over x amount, or things at one time that total up to x amount. And stick to that agreement.

• Giving each person some spending money each month helps keep the splurge impulse in check.

• It’s hard times that test relationships, and often, lack of money can be a real test. Estimate how much money you both need to tide over sudden loss of job or a medical emergency and work towards making sure you always have that amount in the bank.