Tough times calls for tough cut backs. According to The Wealth Report, a new survey shows that more than 80% of multimillionaires who had extramarital affairs plan to cut back on gifts and allowances for their lovers. 12% of the cheating multimillionaires polled said they plan to give up on their lovers altogether for financial reasons. Sounds like good news for wives of multimillionaires!

Yesterday, Match.com reported that its members have officially exchanged over one billion winks, according the WSJ’s Market Watch. (Winks are used to flirt virtually without resorting to formal e-mail introduction. Read more about Match.com here.)

The Detroit News reports that a love triangle may be responsible for a fatal fire. The 71-year-old whose home was destroyed by the flames suggested to police that an ex-girlfriend and neighbor–now in custody–may have caused the fire. Sadly, the fire took the life of the homeowner’s new girlfriend.

The elderly son of a Gloucestershire couple will receive the love letters exchanged by his parents during World War I, according to BBC News. The letters were discovered in a junk shop and by its owner. The content of the letters have yet to be revealed, but we’re crossing our fingers that this old guy isn’t scarred for life.

A US woman who discovered that her husband had been using his iPhone to send raunchy pictures of his genitals to a lover and excused his behavior with an Apple bug sought technical support from Apple yesterday, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Apple has no knowledge of this convenient, marriage-saving bug.

Research after September 11 showed that US couples used sex as a stress-buster. However, it’s been found in India that sex lives suffer during economic lows. The World Association of Sexologists has been commissioned to study the impact of the financial crisis in bedrooms across India, the US and Europe, according to The Economic Times of India.

It’s likely that at least one UK couple is currently hurting, after a marriage advice vicar in Essex, England kissing one of his marriage counseling clients. He’s been banned from the church, according to BBC.

A cool new proposal for a public high school for gay and lesbian students in Chicago was pulled after being met with criticism from Mayor Richard Daley and a couple of ministers, according to the Chicago Tribune. The school would have been the first of it’s kind.

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Zurich, Switzerland Researchers found that physically close couples who kiss, cuddle, hold hands or have sex have lower levels of stress hormones compared to couples who do not–even when stress is work-related. Let it be a happy Hump Day!

While one man—British actor Robert Pattinson, pictured, who plays vampire heartthrob Edward in the forthcoming Twilight movie—garnered most of today’s media attention today, let’s check in with the rest of the XY set.

Asylum asks men which of the following they’d rather be: all-star athlete, A-list movie star or Platinum-selling musician. As of post-time, the musician had a slim lead in the pipe dream poll.

New research shows Gardasil, the HPV vaccine targeted at preventing cervical cancer in young women, is 90 percent effective at preventing genital and anal warts in men.

Esquire.com has a nifty list of 24 presents under $20. Check out the ideas for wallet-friendly guy gifts, including vodka, mildew-proof bamboo gym towels and Carma Sutra: The Auto-Erotic Handbook.

A Connecticut man has filed a lawsuit for possession of the $25,000 engagement ring he gave his former fiancee. “In a situation like this an engagement ring is a conditional gift of the marriage, and if the marriage doesn’t take place, the man is entitled to get it back,” the man’s lawyer told the Connecticut Post.

After polling men, the Times of India reports that male gossip is much like the female version. In addition to “venting” about their relationships, the men admit they mostly dish on sex and the female figure. Shocking.

And, YourTango’s Tomfoolery blogger Tom Miller asks which came first: Bad sex or good TV? Think on that.

Photo: Splash

Love Buzz recently reported that romantic love lasts an average of two years, six months and 25 days. While assigning the enchantment phase an exact number might be a bit absurd the idea that new relationship energy doesn’t last is old news. Anyone who’s been part of a long-term couple knows that the crazyfranticloveglow eventually fades. Or so we thought. Apparently some couples stay madly in love for more than 20 years, and science has proof.

To make the discovery, researchers showed photos of loved ones to people who said they’d been head over heels for many years, and scanned their brains to see which areas responded. They found that the I’ve-loved-you-long-timers showed activity in the regions associated with romantic love—the same parts that are activated in the recently smitten. (Not coincidently this area also lights up when you do coke and other dopamine-enhancers. Love is like a drug—how comforting.)

There was a key difference though: in addition to the romantic love region, long-term lovers showed brain activity in areas connected with calmness, while newly-fallen brains lit up in spots associated with anxiety and obsession. Translation: most couples’ initial excitement fades, however when it lasts, crazy love moves away from compulsion and into a soothing harmony. Sounds pretty great—we’ll take some of that, please!

Love Buzz has experienced the excitement of new love, but it’s hard to trust that feeling, knowing that the elation fades. According to this study, it doesn’t have to subside, and can grow into something even better. So here’s our question: how common is this lyrical, lasting love, and how can we get some? Are some people wired for it while others aren’t? And how do you know if your love will burn forever or cool to an ember after a few years? Get to it, scientists!

Readers, do you know couples who have been together for years and are still in love? Do you think it’s possible for everyone? And how can you tell if it will happen to you?

Good morning all! Here is what’s going on today in the world of love and relationships.

Wondering what guys think of you if you put out easily? Well, Steve Santagati, author of The Manual answers the question on Dear Sugar.

Do you like a man who looks like he just fought in battle? According to Science Daily, women find scarring on men attractive most likely because they associate it with bravery. Sorry Heidi Klum, but we might have to take Seal off your hands.

Over at Marie Claire, Sex and the Single Guy claims that we are constantly repeating emotional mistakes. Some common emotional mishaps we tend to make are: taking them back, staying with the bastard (AKA “I can change him/her”) and mistaking physical intimacy for emotional intimacy.

Reuters says that Malaysia doesn’t want women wearing pants. Pants lead to tomboyishness which leads to promiscuity. Ergo, make women wear skirts and they will cease to be promiscuous.

Sexuality Happens is reporting that GoodDykePorn.com features extremely hot and “real” lesbians getting it on together. The women on the site are of different races, ages, and body types.

Although most men can’t stand it, verbal communication is necessary in relationships. Or so says the user Spoonage over at Divine Caroline. Although men and women are completely different (Mars and Venus, anyone?), if they can’t verbally communicate, the relationship will most likely screech to a halt.

Take Sassy Bean’s 12 Signs That He’s the One into consideration if you are on the fence about your dude. Number 6 says that your guy should compliment you. If he tells you that you look like you’ve lost weight then you’ll know he’s a keeper.

Our pals over at the Daily Bedpost provide insight on whether having a one-night stand is actually worth it. They say that if you separate sex from love, use protection, are honest with your partner (and yourself) about your expectations and you are respectful, then there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy a casual fling. True, very true.

If you’re cruising around in a Mini-Cooper and have a hard time gettin’ down and dirty due to limited space, The Frisky has four positions for small-car sex. Our fave? Position number 1–The Passenger Seat Cowgirl. Perfect for cars with front seats only. Have your dude put his seat as far back as it can go, and make sure you wear a skirt!

So since this seems to be a number day (12 Signs That He’s the One, Four Positions for Small-car Sex), we figured we’d wrap it up with 9 Signs He is Cheating. Shine shares this news from Rich Santos at Marie Claire. We’ve heard a lot of these tips before; however, an important one that Santos mentions is “Your Gut Tells You So.” If something feels off, don’t ignore that feeling.

Counting down the days until the Twilight premiere?

I am, too, and I’m enjoying all the media attention the books and movie are getting.

But a recent Gawker post about the Stephenie Meyer series ticked me off. In “Vampire Chastity Belts: Anticipation for Sex That Never Comes is the Highlight of Twilight,” blogger Alex Carnavale complains that the lack of sex in the book series is unrealistic, especially since the two main characters pine over each other for hundreds and hundreds and hundres of pages. Given the fact that Meyer is a Mormon, Carnavale seems concerned her book is preachy about sexual abstinence.

He writes:

“…no one getting laid, even just in a passing reference? Some have chided the book for preaching abstinence and never discussing the sexuality of its central character, and it’s hard to argue with that.”

True, that’s unrealistic — especially for bored teenagers in a rural town! I do understand Carnavale’s point, and I appreciate his concern about a “destructive message”:

If Bella’s attraction to Edward were based on anything more than his striking physique, I’d probably applaud the book’s desire to push sex out of the picture. Yet she spends most of her time idly worshiping the chiseled features of her undead one-and-only. In the sequel, New Moon, Bella is now eighteen years old, and she never thinks for a moment about sex. Sure, sometimes she’ll press herself against Edward’s cold carapace and feel awesome, but that’s as far as it goes.

The vampire side is more easily explained: Edward is consumed by a desire for Bella’s blood (it sings to him), and he doesn’t want to get too close. In fact, it’s his elusiveness in the first novel that makes her disregard all the advances of her new classmates in the rainy Washington state hamlet of Forks. In this way, the book’s story might make a better instructional tool for young men than young women. This approach makes less sense for Bella, who is far from free to express herself sexually. Was this the right move to ensure the books could be read by all ages? Indisputably, but that doesn’t mean it can’t also be a destructive message.

I’m the last person to say teenagers, young adults and even children shouldn’t be exposed to safe, healthy sexual content — I think American culture is schizophrenically both slutty and prudish. To that end, I support comprehensive sex ed in schools and I’d love to see a loosening up of the sex-related controversies in our pop culture.

But I also think we can’t forget the Twilight books are young adult (YA) books. Young adults. Obviously not all young adults are sexually active, but what might be harder to wrap our heads around is the notion that not all young adults care to think about sexual activity at all times. If you’ve never kissed a boy before — and certainly if you’ve never given a handjob or a blowjob — it may seem frightening and overwhelming. It may seem like something you can picture yourself doing a year or two or five from now, but it’s not a part of your life today.

And I think that kind of chastity, the kind that’s not indoctrinated, is OK.

I think the commenter, ClicheLaMoron, on Carnavale’s post was dead on (no pun intended). Even though she’s much more cynical and doesn’t think this is “healthy,” I still think her point is right:

Ask a former teenage girl:

The book is TOTAL porn. But, not the scary kind with dicks. The kind that’s PERFECT for teenage girls, which is all about getting off on the pain of loving someone so hard and not being able to have him. Which is a sexual feeling, even though that makes no sense to dudes. But in reality, you cannot have your idol because you are hideous and unpopular, not because HE LOVES YOU TOO MUCH TO EVER ENDANGER YOU WITH HIS LOOOOOOOVE, but the good/bad feeling is much the same.

I don’t think this is healthy at all. But if you are raised to fear men as rapey, etc and be ashamed of your sexual feelings as making you dirty and worthless, you end up liking this book. Yaaaaaaay.

What’s more, I thought the never-consummated sexual tension in Twilight was really hot. Maybe because it lets my imagination run wild? Maybe it’s because I’m a tease and I’m attracted to teases who are my match? Maybe it’s because I’ve confessed my love for chivalrous vampires? Who knows…I just wouldn’t change the book at all. Are we so sexed up in our pop culture that we’re taking to teenagers not having sex like a vampire takes to garlic?

Tell us in the comments section below….would the Twilight series be hotter with a long-hoped for consummatino of