The results are in for the ''Honey, I Need Some Money Contest." Let's just say I winced more than I laughed.
Based on the entries I received, many couples act like roommates who insist on labeling their food in the communal refrigerator. They clearly have different financial styles.
One reader from Maryland wrote, ''I pay the bills on time and he pays when it is convenient. I am about to pull out my hair."
But financial dishonesty dominated a lot of entries.
''Before I married my ex-husband, we had the money discussion," wrote a reader from Seattle. ''I laid out my debts (car payment, mortgage, credit cards) and my income. He told me how much he was making, but said he had no debts besides a car payment that would be gone by the time the wedding rolled around. I believed him. Marriage is about trust, right?"
In her case, wrong. Her husband had a secret debt life.
''Talk about a stunning revelation! He didn't consider his money problems to be any business of mine, even though it was bringing my credit into jeopardy."
Then there were the checking account-challenged.
''After a certain incident, I completely handle the checkbook and my husband has to ask for a check on an 'as-needed' basis," one reader wrote. ''My husband loves to go to computer shows and I thought nothing of handing the checkbook over. But one day I noticed that we only had a few dollars in the [account]. My husband had spent hundreds of dollars at one show. He said, 'But we had money in the checking account.' I agreed that we had money, but only because I hadn't yet written checks for the utilities, etc. Fortunately we had some savings and I was able to cover this indiscretion."
Most often however, it was financial opposites that were living unhappily ever after.
''The fact that you and your partner or spouse don't see eye to eye on how to save, spend, and invest is completely normal," said Sheryl Garrett, founder of the Garrett Planning Network, fee-only financial advisers. ''We are often attracted to people with different characteristics than we have."
However, Garrett said couples need to realize that they are in a partnership and that means compromising.
''People compromise on where they are going to live, or take vacations, so they also need to compromise on how to spend, save, and invest," she said.
That's advice that could serve the winners of the contest well.
For example, one of the winners is Marva Hilliard of Jacksonville, Fla. She and her husband of four years are money opposites.
''We have separate checking accounts, because I learned within the first few months of marriage that my husband cannot save a penny," Hilliard wrote. ''I am very frugal."
Teresa Ferguson of Eldersburg, Md., another winner, has a similar issue with her husband of 2½ years.
''I will send him to the store with a list, because I know that we are on a budget and he comes back killing the bank," she wrote in her entry. ''I think I am packing his lunch to save money and find out that he is going to Denny's. At the end of the month there are $100, $200, and even $300 items that he forgot to tell me about."
My third pick is Stacy Westbrook of Herndon, Va. Stacy and her husband were at odds over a motorcycle. Stacy wanted to put the money toward a bigger home.
''At first, my husband was excited about buying a newer, larger home," she wrote. ''That was until his buddies got hold of him. The majority of his friends ride motorcycles." He got his motorcycle. ''But I'm not thrilled about it," Stacy said.
Remember, when it comes to handling your money as a couple, the key to financial success is the three Cs -- compromise, communicate, and common goals.
Michelle Singletary is a columnist for The Washington Post.
