Dating and debt don’t go together according to new survey

It all comes down to money.

Love and romance can equal relationship bliss. But that honeymoon period can take a cold-hearted turn when it’s overrun by financial stress.

Nearly half of all Canadian singles say debt is a dating deal breaker, and they wouldn’t even give someone in the red a shot.

In fact, good financial decision-making overall is a key trait many singles look for in a partner.

A new match.com survey says 94 per cent of Canadian singles believe a person’s ability to manage their finances is very important, and 47 percent would not date someone who is in debt.

Paddi Rice with Executive Search Dating is a professional matchmaker, and says he’s not surprised by the findings.

“I think what we hear is not necessarily that meeting somebody rich is important, but you want to meet someone who is on the same page,” says Rice. “What we often hear is our clients are not looking to meet someone who is going to take care of them. But, they are also not looking forward to taking care of somebody else.”

The survey results also suggest a gender divide, with women more likely to label themselves as “savers” and men as “spenders.”

Either way, if you plan on having a long-term relationship and you carry debt, chances are you’ll want to get a handle on your finances.

“If you are going to get married, you are thinking of buying a house, you are thinking of having a family and raising children, which obviously incurs a lot of costs, I think it is actually very important that both parties have a discussion about that before they actually get married,” says Rice.

Meanwhile, there is some good news today about Canadians and debt.

The Royal Bank says our total household debt increased to 1.67 trillion dollars in February.

And while that is a lot of money, the bank says it’s an increase of 4.5 percent from February of last year, which was the smallest annual increase in more than a decade.