You’ve probably heard that many couples have arguments and fights over money. You may have heard that money is a top reason for disagreements between spouses. It stands to reason that this also means it causes a lot of divorce cases.

Even though this is true, these individual disagreements about money can take many forms. One of the most common ways that this happens is when two people simply think about money in different ways, and they want to use it differently than one another. When they can’t agree, it leads to conflicts that can be very difficult to resolve.

The difference between saving and spending

Perhaps the clearest example of how this can happen is when you and your spouse have different opinions about saving and spending. Perhaps you’ve always been very careful with financial stability, and you want to plan for your future, so you’re more interested in saving as much money as possible. At the same time, your spouse is more interested in spending money to have experiences and live the life that they want.

When the two of you can’t agree on something like this, it means that you constantly feel like the other person is causing harm or holding you back. That’s not to say that you are right and they are wrong or that your spouse is wrong and you are correct. It’s just that when you have two very different viewpoints, that creates a lot of friction, and that financial friction often leads to divorce.

If you and your spouse do decide that it’s time to get divorced, make sure you understand all of your legal options when considering assets, debt and other financial issues.