If you have a girlfriend you know that girls can be real trouble to your bank account! So how do you maintain your love life while keeping your finances in check?

Tip#1 – You’d better have a source of income

Seriously, if you’re in college and you have a girlfriend, you’ll need some money. Dinners, movies, birthday gifts, xmas gifts, these all require a large amount of money. Without money your relationship will be doomed to fail. No girl wants to date a hobo or a bum, and if you’re not working a part-time job or getting a pretty decent cash allowance from your parents, you’ll need to start now.

Tip #2 – Pay for things, but also try to get her to pay for you sometimes also

I paid for a lot of things at the beginning, but as time moved on I had the courage to ask her if she would also pay for some of our dates. My girlfriend is wonderful and completely understands the notion that I’m only a poor college student and can’t pay for everything.

Of course you shouldn’t do something like this on the first date, but you do need to establish that you aren’t going to be paying for all your dates.

Tip #3 – Know what you CAN and CANNOT pay for

If you keep buying her gifts, she’ll expect them. Don’t wimp out and just let her dictate your credit card. If she wants a coach purse she needs to buy it herself. Tell her straight up that you don’t have the money for it if she asks.

On the other hand you can and MUST pay for things like anniversaries, her birthday, christmas gifts, and fancy restaurants. Find the balance between being a bum and being manipulated. If you start feeling uneasy about your spending (like I did), then let your girlfriend know. If she truly wants to be in the relationship then she will understand.

Tip #4 - Suggest inexpensive activities for you two to enjoy

Maybe cook a meal at home? Stay in and rent a movie instead of going to the dance club. Have pleasurable sex all night long.

Tip #5 – Stop spending every minute with her

The more time you spend with her the more tempting it will be to go out and spend some money doing a fun activity. Spending time is good, but spending too much time is not good. Also if you do spend a lot of time together it can cause the relationship to stale.

Instead try balancing your life by devoting some time to making money (part-time job, blogging), studying, hanging out with friends of the same gender, and hanging out with your significant other (amongst other things).

Tip #6 – Figure out if she is a gold-digger

If she says she’s gonna break up with you if you don’t pay for meals, you got to ditch her. If she keeps whining for you to buy her things, then you gotta ditch her. I’m sorry but no matter how great a girl is, if she’d rather have you accumulate lots of debt in college than spend a little money for the relationship, then she’s not right for you or anyone (unless you have unlimited money).