Having an affair will certainly cost you the trust of your spouse and family and, likely, your marriage. But, according to a new study, it can be a significant financial cost as well. Cheating spouses spend $444 a month on affair, survey finds, by Susan Salisbury, www.PalmBeachPost.com, reposted on ajc.com, July 8, 2014. The study, conducted by vouchercloud.net about leisure spending, found that "the average affair begins a mere two years into the marriage, lasts six months and costs over $2,600."
Specifically, according to the study, an adulterer spends $123/month on hotels. $162/month on dinner and drinks, $54/month on gifts for his/her paramour, $69/month on date activities, and $36/month miscellaneous expenses. This is over $400 a month on adultery related expenses. Despite this exorbitant monthly expense, only one third of the people who reported extramarital spending in the study said that their spouse noticed the extra spending.
If you think your spouse may be cheating, the first thing you should look for is suspicious spending. Check your credit card statement for hotel and dinner charges that you know did not include you. Do this for all credit cards to which you have access. It is possible, however, that your spouse was too smart to use a joint credit card. In that case, look for extra debits from your joint checking account. This may indicate that he/she is taking extra cash out to avoid your knowing where he/she is spending time and money.
If you choose to file for divorce, you will have even more weapons at your disposal with which to find the details of your spouse's affair. Through the discovery process, you can request copies of all bank statements and credit card statements, even the ones that are not jointly owned by you and your spouse. From there, if your spouse is actually cheating, you will likely see a pattern of spending that will help you to prove it.