Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (On the Wallet)

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Dec 3rd 2008 By Lauren Fritsky

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (On the Wallet)

Hot Bod, Cold Heart

Alex Rodriguez This skanky Yankee came under fire for getting cozy with a stripper at a Las Vegas Scores (ew), and was rumored to be cavorting with Madonna before the ink was dry on either of their divorce papers. Jerkometer rating: 7

Getty Images

Mario Lopez Who knew that A.C. Slater was such a dirtbag? The buff "Dancing with the Stars" stud reportedly cheated on one lady friend with a Hooters girl, and his two-week 2004 marriage to Ali Landry ended when she learned of his bachelor party antics. Jerkometer rating: 8

Barry King, WireImage.com

Jude Law He may be gorgeous, and nobody can resist that accent. But you know what we can resist? Sleeping with our nanny. Jude? Not so much. He and then-fiancee Sienna Miller eventually broke up, obvs. Jerkometer rating: 7

Sony

Matt Damon In 1998, Matt Damon told Oprah Winfrey during an interview on her show that he was no longer dating Minnie Driver. According to Driver, that was the first she'd heard of their breakup. Jerkometer rating: 2 (He gets points off for good behavior since.)

Universal

Hugh Grant In 1995, Grant was infamously pulled over by L.A. police for lewd conduct with prostitute Divine Brown. Girlfriend Liz Hurley forgave him and even appeared on his arm at the premiere of "Nine Months" days after his arrest. Jerkometer rating: 9 (extra points for dragging Leno into it)

Dave Hogan, Getty Images

David Beckham What is it with married celebrities and the hired help? Although he has always denied it (and OK, so there's no proof), Becks was accused in 2004 of sleeping with then-personal assistant Rebecca Loos. Jerkometer rating: 3 (That shirtless picture inspires our goodwill, OK?)

Milk Processor's of America

Chace Crawford We know two things about the "Gossip Girl" boy: He's a total hottie, and he dumped Carrie Underwood via text. US Weekly reported in April, 2008 that the pair "mutually" parted ways via cellular phones. Jerkometer rating: 1 (hey, we've done it too)

Mark Von Holden, WireImage.com

Charlie Sheen Among other lowlights, Sheen "accidentally" shot ex-fiancee Kelly Preston, spent thousands on madam Heidi Fleiss and symbolically took a chainsaw to his wedding portrait with Denise Richards. Ew. Jerkometer rating: What comes after infinity?

E.J. Camp / CBS

Ethan Hawke We were sad enough when this brainy babe's artsy-smartsy marriage to Uma Thurman ended. But to then shack up and have a baby with the nanny to his kids? For shame! Jerkometer rating: 4

Mirimax / Everett Collection

Ryan Philippe Although never officially confirmed, rumors still swirl that Ryan Philippe's divorce from his all-American wife Reese Witherspoon had a little something to do with an on-set affair with actress Abbie Cornish, now his girlfriend. Hmm. Jerkometer rating: 6

Frank Masi, Paramount

Divorce rates tend to rise during tough economic times, but today's recession is more dismal than most. Contested partings have always cost a lot, but when you add in the real estate market going bust and job layoffs looming for many, breaking the bank to break up just doesn't make sense.

"The housing market is down, it's hard to sell, and when you can sell, you're selling it at a depressed price, so a lot of people are deciding ... 'It's not worth it to do it (at) this time. Let's stay together. Let's try to work through our problems and hope that the economy will spring back,'" Scott L. Rubin, a marital and family lawyer in Miami, told MSNBC.com.

Money, Not Morals
So could being forced to stay with your mate mean a return to some old-school values of our grandparents' era, namely a re-embracing of the whole "till death do us part" bit of those wedding vows?

Probably not. These marriages began plummeting well before the stock market did, so hopes of patching things up are slim. Pointing to the rise in domestic violence during the Great Depression, Stephanie Coontz, who teaches history and family studies at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., says, "When people are forced by economic pressures to stay in a marriage that has already gone south, that's not good for them or for their kids." Double whammy. If you believe your union is doomed to sink faster than the Titanic, these money tips might help you stay afloat.

For more on the perils of breaking up, check out Asylum's list of divorce mistakes men make.

Tell us: Would you unhappily stay with your significant other to save money?

Also on Lemondrop: Is all this break up talk getting you down? Check out Lemondrop's collection of the best sappy romance movies ever.