The most wonderful time of the year may be followed by what could seem to be the worst: January, when both Christmas bills and W2 forms heralding the upcoming tax season arrive.

But the costs of Christmas can be much more than monetary when people lie to loved ones about their holiday spending.

A recent study from McGraw-Hill Federal Credit Union suggested couples increase the anxiety they feel over holiday shopping by lying and/or covering up the amount they spend or plan to spend.

The McGraw-Hill FCU poll covered 1,000 couples in three different segments: married, same-sex, and divorced-but-remarried/in-a-relationship, and no matter which group, the honesty shrinks as the holiday spirit increases.

Roughly 40 percent of all couples — nearly half of all heterosexual couples — have disagreements between partners on how much to spend during the holidays.

In each group, at least a quarter of the couples reported lying between partners about holiday spending, and more than half of married couples reported paying with cash to cover up large purchases. In 10 percent of couples, at least one partner has taken a credit card out in their own name to hide their spending.

But this hidden spending is widespread and not confined to just the holiday season, according to Jeff Smith, branch manager for Freedom United Federal Credit Union which has 7,500 members in three locations including Northgate Plaza, Harmony.

“It’s a little more so now that people are looking for holiday cash,” said Smith. He said people will take out loans, dip into savings and charge up their credit cards at this time of year.

Asked how much in charges or loans, Smith said, “I wouldn’t want to speculate. I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint an amount.”

If a member of his credit union was getting in over his head, Smith said he would invite them to “talk to any of our employees or our loan officer. We don’t have someone with a credit counselor title.”

Dr. Donna Korczyk, a psychologist with a practice in Cranberry Township, said a partner hiding spending from another isn’t a sign of a healthy relationship.

“I guess it would depend on the person and the nature of the relationship,” said Korczyk. “I would ask about the relationship in general, how healthy the relationship is.”

“Do people trust each other? Is it the kind of relationship where they can talk, does one person feel like they can be open with their partner?” said Korczyk.

“Money is a significant point of stress in a relationship,” she said.

“Is one partner controlling with the money? Does the other partner feel that no matter what they do or what they spend, they are going to be criticized?” she said.

“Does one feel entitled to spend whatever they want, no matter what their partner feels?” asked Korczyk.

Is there an underlying cause for this holiday overspending?

“People need to sit down and really think about what they want to spend and the best way to make sure of that,” she said.

“I think that people have an unrealistic picture of what the holidays are,” said Korczyk. “They want to create the perfect holiday and they think spending is going to bring that about.”

“The media is one of the causes. Look at the Christmas ads,” Korczyk said. “‘Buy your sweetheart a car for Christmas.’ We feel that a successful holiday involves a lot of spending.”

Dr. Elizabeth Krause, a psychologist who runs a practice with two colleagues in Mars, said a good old-fashioned sense of shame is the reason many hide the credit card statement.

“It becomes a conflict with another part of our personality,” said Krause. “There’s the part that wants to budget and there’s the part that wants to get the gift, please the person or whatever the aspirational ideal it is that causes us to overspend.”

Getting a little naughty with the checkbook at Christmas could be a sign of bigger issues in a relationship, warned Shawn Gilfedder, president of McGraw-Hill FCU.

“Take this study one step further and you know that, of married couples, about half of them aren’t going to make it for various reasons, and that financial issues often rise to the top of that list of reasons,” Gilfedder said.

The issue isn’t so much about trying to keep a special gift secret from the recipient, or even splurging a bit when the household can easily afford the extra spending, it’s the side that says once you can lie about simple financial issues, it’s a short step to lying about other issues.

Robert Singer, regional leader at the Edward Jones financial services office in Cranberry Township, said, “Financial planners aren’t going to know if that is the case. If they are hiding it from their spouses, they are hiding if from their financial adviser.”

“But, couples need to work together to formulate a budget for the holiday season,” said Singer. “And they need to have an everyday, household budget as well. This could make long-term financial planning a lot more rewarding.”

Singer said a recent Edward Jones survey indicated that Americans are planning to keep their wallets closed this season.

According to the survey, 37 percent say they plan to spend less on holiday shopping than in 2012, contrary to what Edward Jones’ retail analysis is anticipating: holiday sales to increase by about 2.8 percent.

“While we expect some sales growth in the retail market this holiday season, those polled expressed a conservative view on holiday spending,” said Brian Yarbrough, consumer discretionary analyst for Edward Jones. “This differs from our retail forecasts for the remainder of the year. We anticipate solid numbers from most retailers with luxury players leading the charge.”

“Americans have been inundated by negative headlines regarding changes in economic policy, the impact of rising interest rates and disparate political views coming out of Washington,” said Singer. “It’s clear that these issues have heightened uncertainty and caused individuals to second-guess their saving and spending behaviors.”