Love, money and honesty: why financial compatibility matters this Valentine’s Day
Love, money and honesty: why financial compatibility matters this Valentine’s Day
Love, money and honesty: why financial compatibility matters this Valentine’s Day
Gary Oberholzer
Love, money and honesty: why financial compatibility matters this Valentine’s Day
February may be the Month of Love — but for many South Africans, it’s also a month of financial pressure.
With more than 7.5 million credit cards in circulation and new credit originations up by over 36% last year, spending is on the rise. But that increase doesn’t necessarily reflect confidence. It may point to something more uncomfortable: households under strain.
Valentine’s Day, with its expectations of grand gestures, expensive dinners and carefully curated romance, can magnify existing money tensions. Questions that linger quietly throughout the year suddenly feel louder:
Why are we always broke? Why is there so much debt? Why does it feel like I’m carrying this alone?
For some couples, those pressures don’t just lead to difficult conversations — they lead to divorce inquiries. Some estimates suggest February sees a spike of up to 40% in filings and consultations.
Speaking on HOT Business with Jeremy Maggs, powered by Standard Bank, Dion Sharman from National Debt Advisors unpacked what he calls the “Valentine’s Day effect” — a pattern where financial stress, secrecy and expectation collide.
He warns that rising credit card usage “does not signal confidence. It signals distress.”
Is Valentine’s Day exposing more about your bank balance than your love life? Listen to Dion Sharman unpack the “Valentine’s Day effect” on HOT Business with Jeremy Maggs below:
From hidden credit cards to secret loans and overspending to impress a partner, financial infidelity is increasingly part of the relationship conversation — especially during February.
Sharman also highlights the legal implications for couples married in community of property, where one partner’s debt can quickly become the other’s responsibility.
And with many young South Africans entering relationships already financially extended — often without strong financial literacy skills — the pressure only compounds.
So is financial compatibility more important than romantic compatibility?
“They’re equally important,” Sharman says. “Your financial health impacts your mental health, your physical health and your relationships.”
Love may still be priceless. But honesty about money might just be its strongest foundation.
Christa Eybers
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