Expenses You Can Cut In A Long-Term Relationship

[caption id="attachment_836413" align="alignleft" width="1068"] Bigstockphoto.com/Couple using laptop together[/caption] Long-term relationships come with some deep, meaningful, from-the-heart perks. But if we can be honest, it also comes with some financial ones—being single can get pricey! The cheapest way to spend a Friday night is with boxed wine, Netflix, and a frozen pizza but nobody ever met the love of their life by doing that (unless the checkout guy where you bought the wine did it for you). Finding the one usually involves being out of the house, and that means paying for dinner, drinks, taxis, outfits, makeup and—let’s not forget—dating aps. It’s exhausting and expensive! Which is why we’d like to take a moment to appreciate the unexpected upside of a long-term relationship. Here are expenses you get to cut in a committed relationship.   [caption id="attachment_710619" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Razors

Remember when you used to shave everything, every day, because you and your new boyfriend were probably going to have sex that night? Now you know, based on your and your boo’s routine when you’ll have sex, when you won’t, and you plan your shaving around that. Sometimes you straight up ask him, “Do you think we’ll have sex tonight? Because if not, I’m not shaving.”             [caption id="attachment_623956" align="alignleft" width="500"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Condoms

Condoms get pricey. Sure, you can pick up a handful at the free clinic, but you don’t really like being seen going in and out of the free clinic, it’s rude to grab 100 condoms while you’re there, and they don’t carry the ones you really like. When you’re single or in a new relationship, you can easily drop $40 a month on condoms. But once you’re in a long-term relationship and you’ve both tested clean, you can switch to the pill, which (if you have health insurance) could cost you just around $10 a month. Or you can ask your partner to split the cost of condoms with you, even Steven.   [caption id="attachment_697396" align="alignleft" width="469"] Shutterstock[/caption]

Cabs/Ubers/Lyfts/Trains

If you live together, then you can almost totally eliminate paid rides from your relationship experience. When you were in a new relationship, you were often taking taxis to meet your boo for drinks or get to his place from your place, after you already had a lot of wine at your place. Once you’re in something committed, you live together or shamelessly spend most nights at one another’s place.             [caption id="attachment_616985" align="alignleft" width="406"] Shutterstock[/caption]

Bar tabs

There is this pressure in a new relationship to constantly plan things, do things, go out and spend money. And that makes sense because you don’t really get to know someone by silently sitting next to them on a couch, watching HBO. But once the relationship is established and you know you’re in it for the long haul, you can stop the façade of actually wanting to go out every weekend. You and your boo can enjoy a bottle of wine, home-made food, and Netflix.           [caption id="attachment_728345" align="alignleft" width="500"] Credit: Shutterstock[/caption]

The good wine

Speaking of wine, gone are the days of purchasing the good wine so you didn’t come off as cheap. You and your partner go to the liquor store and openly ask for the cheapest bottle of wine or bottle of tequila. Nobody is pretending to detect the notes of oak or honey in Cabernet anymore; you all just want a cheap buzz.               [caption id="attachment_620940" align="alignleft" width="500"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Dog sitter

Remember when things were new with your boo and you didn’t want to encroach on his space too much? You didn’t leave a toothbrush or underwear at his place, and you certainly didn’t bring your dog with you every time you went over. But somebody had to take care of your dog, so you hired someone on Wag or one of those other dog-care aps. Now your partner loves your dog just as much as you do, and he begs you to bring little Fido over.   [caption id="attachment_700070" align="alignleft" width="420"] Woman in therapy. Photo: Shutterstock[/caption]

Therapy

I am not saying a boyfriend can fix you. And I am not saying that we only go to therapy to help ourselves find a boyfriend. But I am saying that when you find that person who just fits—like the missing puzzle piece—you suddenly stop obsessing over fixing this flaw or that insecurity. Somehow, those insecurities go away when you find someone who embraces you. And somehow, your partner sees your so-called flaws as adorable quirks.           [caption id="attachment_836414" align="alignleft" width="419"] Bigstockphoto.com/card reader with cards in purple hands and body only
** Note: Slight graininess, best at smaller sizes[/caption]

Fortune tellers

This doesn’t have to leave this space, but we can all admit that we’ve turned to fortune tellers, tarot-card readers, psychics and plenty of other alternative, um, “life coaches” to find out when the hell we’re going to find that man. So that’s one expense you can cut once you find him.                 [caption id="attachment_711691" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Advice magazines

A lot of relationship advice is based on the idea that the two people in the relationship are not communicating. There are a lot of “tricks” to deciphering what a man thinks and “tips” for getting a man to see you this way or that way. When you’re in a great relationship, you don’t even think about how you behave or what you say—somehow you just know that you can come as you are, and it will be perfect. And you don’t waste time guessing what your partner wants or thinks; you just ask him.           [caption id="attachment_821866" align="alignleft" width="900"] Credit: Bigstock[/caption]

Laundry detergent

After you’ve been together for a while, you don’t invest much time in keeping your small collection of sexy underwear fresh and clean. You wear it while it’s clean, and when it runs out, you wear the granny panties and whatever else you have until that’s dirty. But you aren’t washing any underwear until all underwear—ugly and cute—are dirty. [caption id="attachment_608920" align="alignleft" width="500"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Poo-Pourri

If you once kept some product around to remove the, um, evidence after you handled serious business in the bathroom, you’re done with that. Now you just walk out of the bathroom and tell your partner, “I wouldn’t go in there for a while if I were you.” You probably even announced a, “Last call to use the bathroom before I poop” before you went in there.         [caption id="attachment_717237" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Makeup remover

In a long-term relationship, you no longer pretend the process of getting ready for the day or getting ready for bed is attractive. You don’t spend money on expensive makeup remover anymore. You just rub your face in the shower, let that mascara and concealer go everywhere, and come out looking like a clown-raccoon hybrid. Then you rinse your face again, in the sink.             [caption id="attachment_625884" align="alignleft" width="500"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Midol

You used to take such lengths to conceal your PMS symptoms. You had an overstock of Midol, Aspirin and heating pads for your time of the month. You would never let your partner see the PMS monster come out. Now, you slack off in the PMS-prevention department. You’re going to groan, bitch and moan and your partner just has to deal with it.       [caption id="attachment_627199" align="alignleft" width="426"] Corbis[/caption]

Underwear

Not only are you washing underwear less, you’re replenishing it less, too. Just because you get a little period stain on a pair, or your dog chews through the crotch of a pair, doesn’t mean you’re tossing them out. Underwear is expensive, and those granny panties are still perfectly wearable, even with the butt chewed out.             [caption id="attachment_710677" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]  

Lube

You and your boo naturally have sex less often as the relationship goes on. You still get it on, and when you do, it’s great. But you’ve lost the compulsion to do it three times a day. And so, you can cut back on the lube. When you do buy lube, you now by the generic one. You don’t feel the need to impress your partner with some fancy lube.

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