Crunch time

By Becky Taylor

If you thought the recession was all doom and gloom, you thought wrong. More and more couples are discovering that the economic crisis is having a huge impact on their relationship and transforming it for the better. Read on for our top 10 reasons on why the credit crunch could be the knight in shining armour your love life has been waiting for...

1. Let me entertain you

A few months ago the world was your oyster when it came to keeping yourself occupied outside of work, but now that you\'ve had to cancel the gym membership and trips to the cinema are limited to Orange Wednesdays, you\'ve had to find other ways to keep yourself entertained while burning a few calories - which is where the man in your life comes in. Long gone are the ‘not tonight, dear\' excuses, never has our sex life looked better as we\'re thinking up new and interesting ways to keep the sparks flying in the bedroom and indulging in a bit of what the Americans are calling ‘hope sex\'.

2. Staying in is the new going out

BCC (Before Credit Crunch) an average weekend might involve going out for dinner, meeting friends for drinks and a lazy Sunday trip to the cinema. These days Saturday nights mean an easy supper while curled up on the sofa watching a DVD, and the crazy thing is we\'ve never been happier. Relationship psychotherapist at Relate, Denise Knowles says, \"There has been a significant change in many couple\'s attitudes to their relationship. People are keen to work on their problems and look for solutions, whereas before the recession they may have had the option of using money to pave over the cracks. They realise that, while they may have very little control on their finances and careers, they can control the state of their relationship and it\'s this knowledge that\'s spurring couples on to put more time and effort in.\"

3. There\'s no `i\' in team

When your neighbours and friends are all losing their jobs and the economy looks to be heading straight into a state of disrepair, all that bickering between you and partner about leaving the loo seat up and whose turn it is to buy the milk suddenly seems completely irrational. Whenever a crisis hits, people are forced together and the chances are that you and your other half have had to start working as a team to ensure that you stay afloat during these difficult and stressful times. Supporting one another when things get tough will develop a real bond that will last long after the recession ends.

4. The silver lining

If you or your partner is unfortunate enough to be made redundant during the economic downturn it might at first seem like the worst has happened but you\'d be surprised at the number of people using the opportunity to trade in the rat race for a more fulfilling role, the chance to retrain or even go back to University. Seeing your loved one or even yourself transform from feeling constantly tired, unhappy and stressed to someone who arrives home from work every day calm and blissfully happy will have huge ramifications for your relationship. After all, what\'s more attractive than being with an altruist compared with a man working day and night for a big fat pay check?

5. Calling a truce

The days of you sneaking into the flat you share with your partner, loaded down with bulging shopping bags are long gone and thankfully, so are the rows centring on you blowing a month\'s rent on shoes and dresses. These days the only ‘splurge\' your bank balance will allow is a trolley dash around Tesco\'s beauty isle, much cheaper, far more satisfying and small enough to hide in your handbag, so everyone\'s a winner.

6. Just call me Delia

From Gordon Ramsay to Nigella Lawson, there\'s something inherently endearing about someone who can cook well and do it with ladlefuls of passion. Tough times mean cutting back on the things that we don\'t really need such as ready-meals, pizzas and takeaways and going back to basics in the kitchen. From rustling up a casserole from the cheap cuts of meat (ask your mum) to creating a mouth-watering risotto using the leftovers in the fridge, you and your partner\'s new found skills will bring out a whole new side you never knew existed and, the fewer preservatives, salt and sugar in your homemade dishes will stop you feeling bloated afterwards leaving room for a little dessert of your own making.

7. Home is where the heart is

For many of us, going abroad this year will be the last thing on our minds, even if you haven\'t suffered from redundancy and the terrible exchange rate doesn\'t really bother you the chances are you\'re so desperate to hang on to your job, a fortnight away from your desk fills you with dread. Thanks to years of living with disposable incomes and cheap flights, many of us have forgotten about the delights sitting right on our doorstep. Many holiday providers and hotels are so keen to attract business and tourism their way that they\'re offering incredible deals for two night breaks at luxury hotels, cottages and B&Bs across the country. So make the most of the great outdoors, swap Barcelona for Bath and set off for a romantic weekend away in the country. Far less hassle than catching a flight and you can drive off at a moment\'s notice the minute the sun comes out.

Visit www.lastminute.com for more details.

8. Going back to your roots

He\'s always said that you\'re sexiest when you\'re sporting that au natural look but you\'ve always shrugged off his comments and continued to book yourself in for regular root touch-ups and trims without fail. Nowadays as you\'re browsing the isles of Lidl, a trip to the hairdresser every couple of months seems a tad extravagant, so you\'ve done what every other recession-savvy female is doing, gone back to your roots and he loves it! Not only will your natural colouring suit your features more than brassy blonde highlights, but it\'s a well known fact that men love low-maintenance women so cancel your next hair appointment now!

9. Family Guy

Perhaps it\'s down to many of us realising that our career actually isn\'t the be and end all or maybe we\'ve just got more spare time on our hands now that we\'re staying in more, but since the recession struck, more and more of us are coming round to the fact that now is as good a time as any to start a family. Women who have had to put up with men who ‘weren\'t ready\' for kids now have the upper hand as unemployed city workers are looking for a new project to get, ahem, stuck into. Could this be the start of a new baby boom?

10. Less is more

It used to be that if the chocolates weren\'t Godiva and the lingerie wasn\'t Myla you weren\'t interested but these days it\'s the simpler things in life which float your boat and send you running to your friends bragging about how your man brings you a cup of tea each morning. Your mother always told you that manners cost nothing, well neither does romance so next time your making his packed lunch, why not slip a little post it in there with a cheery (or dirty) message on? We can guarantee it\'ll mean a whole lot more to him than an itchy sweater from John Lewis.