The process of realizing your married life is over can be a difficult one. Especially for those that have a hunch that their spouse is cheating on them, you want to prove that in fact your husband or wife is seeing another person. Beyond hiring a private detective or lurking in the shadows, there are ways to find out if your spouse is cheating.
- Checking account and credit card statements can reveal a lot. Look at each line item for odd spending habits. The biggest warning signs can be:
- Places that do not fit your spouse’s personality. If your spouse did not dare eat sushi, for example, but then charges start to rack up, this is a sign.
- Excessive purchases at bars, restaurants, jewelry, flower, and other gift shops
- Charges from hotels
- Higher gas costs than normal
- Extra cell phone charges or other electronic purchases that are excessive note that your spouse could have purchased equipment to communicate with the person they are seeing
- Vacation and luxury purchases when your spouse is supposed to be on a work trip
- Charges from oddly named businesses
- Membership dues to video chat companies and dating websites
It can also be a big sign if you are used to receiving these statements at home and suddenly they are not appearing. Be sure you can still access these financial accounts online to see if they have been re-routed to a post office box or if you have been locked out of your own account. These are tell-tale signs that your spouse is up to no good.
Banks also offer a feature to receive text alerts. For joint accounts that you are suspicious your spouse is using to cheat with, set this up. You will get texted in real time and the spouse will not be able to make up an excuse so fast as to what the charge was for.
It is also advised to order a copy of your credit report that you are allowed to get for free one time a year. Go over it carefully to see if there are new accounts, inquiries, large balances, or other items that you have no idea about. Be sure to keep all paperwork of the wrongdoing so when you confront the spouse or meet with a divorce attorney, you have as much evidence as possible.
It is also important to start a savings fund so that you can start a new chapter on your own. If there are co-signed accounts that you are worried about getting depleted or charged, call to get your name removed or close the account.