We're all feeling the effects of the bad economy right now — having to cut back on vacations, expensive clothes, and dinners out — but some experts are saying that the recession is affecting people's love lives too. Couples are stressed about money so they're arguing more, going out less, and just not in the mood to have sex. Even though sex can take your mind off your problems, too much Read more

In the past few months your sex life has all but dried up. You’re always trying to initiate things, and you’ve even gone so far as to buy sexy new lingerie, but nothing seems to get your boyfriend interested. When you ask him about it, he says he’s sleep deprived and stressed out. One night you wake up and realize he’s no longer in bed. Following sounds coming from the living room, you Read more

Dear Sugar, My boyfriend is about to own a bar, but we have different views about what that entails. He thinks it's just a place to hang out and de-stress, and he is spending a lot of time trying to plan events. I think owning a bar is providing people with alcohol and taking their money without giving them something good in return. We almost broke up over it and he said that he can't be with Read more

One of the hardest, but most important parts of a relationship is learning how to communicate effectively when the going gets tough. It’s easy to talk when it’s all sunshine and rainbows, but communicating your feelings to someone else when you’re not even sure what you’re feeling can seem impossible. Ideally, once you're settled into a relationship, you’ve figured out the best way to Read more

Many women take great pride in making themselves look good. They eat right, exercise, spend money on makeup, manicures, and highlights, and they're always up to date on the latest fashion. We want to look good for our own self-confidence, but we also do it for the men in our lives. But once we're in a relationship, I'm sure we can all admit to getting comfortable and perhaps not trying as hard. Read more

Dear Sugar, I am currently dating my daughter's father. We had a lot of new-couple issues at first, but just as soon as I was sure we had worked through the kinks, I found out that he is going to move overseas for a year. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with him before he left, but it seems like he doesn't have the same desire. He says that he is trying to mentally prepare himself to Read more

Dear Sugar, My old boyfriend from five years ago and I began speaking again a year ago, after both of us got out of really unhealthy relationships. At the time he was living across the country, but we developed a relationship and he decided to move back. At first our relationship was a dream. He was considerate, caring, sensitive, and treated me very well. Soon after he moved back, he also Read more

Dear Sugar, I wasn't looking for love, but it found me, and I've now been dating my boyfriend for five months. We've been so happy and spend every moment together, but out of the blue, he asked me for some time to think — he doesn't even want us to see each other. I asked him if he wanted to break up or see other people, and he said no. He thinks that because of how much we talk and how far Read more

Dear Sugar, My fiancé and I moved really fast in our relationship, which is great! Everything has worked out really well. The first few months that we dated we made out a lot, but we didn't have sex. We wanted to get to know one another without sex being involved. As passionate as we both felt about one another, we knew sex would not be an issue, which turned out to be true. But now he is Read more