Credit and relationships are two topics that a lot of people don’t see actually going hand in hand, but they really do. If you don’t have good credit and someone else does, there’s going to be an uneasy balance struck. You will probably need to ask them to help you finance things that are going to benefit the both of you. However, is that always a good thing?

There’s a lot of potential for hurt feelings, so it’s really important to make sure that you really think about everyone’s feelings before you ask for anything. Everything needs to be done in writing. Yes, when you’re in a relationship there are a lot of things that really just happen because it’s what you both expect. However, if you’re really trying to make this relationship last, it’s really going to be in your best interests to really make sure that you are as clear as possible. Far too often verbal agreements cause fights because everyone remembers a slightly different version.

The biggest fear is that you’re not going to pay back the money that you borrow, or the account that you significant other is going to set up for you. It’s better then to get everything worked out in advance. Sure, it’s tempting to think that you’re going to have zero problems at all, but why would you want to deal with the risks when it’s just easier to have everything worked out ahead of time.

No matter how you shape your agreement, it’s very important that you don’t back out of it in any way. You really want to make sure that you aren’t just going through the motions to say that you’re going to pay something back. If you don’t, not only will you have to deal with small claims court, you will have torn apart a really good relationship.

Think about how you would want to be treated if someone was trying to get money from you. It would make you feel bad if they didn’t pay you back, right? That’s the attitude that you have to keep when you are trying to get something out of your significant other.

Limit your requests to things that are really going to benefit you both — that way, everyone feels included! Good luck out there!