The emotional costs of an extramarital affair are quite high. It can cost you your spouse and family.
There's also a financial penalty. A recent survey conducted by a U.K. retail company calculated that the average affair lasts six months and costs $444 a month, or $2,664 in total,
CNBC.com reports.
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That $444 consists of $123 for hotel rooms, $162 for food and beverages, $54 for gifts, $69 for movie tickets and $36 for "other" date activities.
But experts say the costs can be much higher. "Secret cell phones, airline tickets, secret credit cards, hotel rooms, the costs can be astronomical," Ramani Durvasula, a licensed clinical psychologist, told CNBC.com.
"I know a woman and her lover who would book a hotel room to the tune of $2,500 a week. And keeping a mistress in an apartment, that can run in the hundreds of thousands."
Some cheating husbands treat their girlfriends better than their wives.
"We followed a guy who was taking his girlfriend to five-star steakhouses and taking his wife to Denny's," Brad Robinson, a senior partner at The Millenium Group Private Investigation Agency in West Palm Beach, Fla., told CNBC.com.
Bottom line: there are a number of reasons why it pays to stay loyal to your spouse.
U.S. News & World Report offers several financial tips for married couples: talk openly about money even before you marry; define shared goals; stay in harmony with your shared financial plan; share costs; communicate about what you need; and pool long-term assets for maximum growth and safety.
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