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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to feel short changed and resentful?

216 replies

SantaHatCat · 29/12/2025 07:45

So originally we were going to my boyfriend’s parents’ for Christmas dinner. I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately they fell out with his brother and therefore made alternative plans (uninvited everyone) and decided to spend it on their own. I therefore hosted the big day at my house for myself, boyfriend and my ds. Just the 3 of us. My boyfriend and myself do not live together and he earns a substantial amount more money than me. We used to earn the exact same but I have recently started a new job. As it was decided we’d have Christmas dinner at my house, I went out and bought all the food and alcohol to see us through Christmas and to the new year. I didn’t go mad, I spent about £100. My problem is that I have had no offer of money towards this and when I asked, he didn’t say or do anything. As it has bugged me since I raised it again yesterday as he said he didn’t want it to become about a whataboutery. In my mind I only think it’s fair we split the cost of this food as not only did I pay for everything, I’m the one who spent Christmas in the kitchen. Originally had plans not changed, his parents were hosting and I would have taken a token gift with me as I never go anywhere empty handed. My bf knows I am short of money. My ds has just finished college and starting working, his first pay cheque is due in January. On top of this and I don’t want to sound petty, my ds’s gf came round to my house in the evening. I had bought chocolates (as well as other gifts) for everyone and when we each opened our chocolates, we offered them around to each other. I brought my son up to do this. We all did this accept my bf. He took chocolates from each of us, but did not even open his. His chocolates were the most expensive out of them all, and the biggest box.

AIBU to feel disappointed and resentful?

OP posts:
MyLimeGuide · 01/01/2026 21:25

Any updates on the missing oven shelves situation?

Madamum18 · 01/01/2026 20:02

Homegrownberries · 01/01/2026 16:02

If there were already several boxes of chocolate open it makes no sense to open another one.

If you were expecting money towards food you should have said that straight up before you bought anything. It wouldn't cross my mind to offer to pay if I'd been invited for dinner. It would feel insulting to the host.

They are in a partnership supposedly!

He knows she is short of money.

He is happy to eat everyone's elses chocs and take his own full box home!

🙄🙄

Homegrownberries · 01/01/2026 16:02

If there were already several boxes of chocolate open it makes no sense to open another one.

If you were expecting money towards food you should have said that straight up before you bought anything. It wouldn't cross my mind to offer to pay if I'd been invited for dinner. It would feel insulting to the host.

Madamum18 · 01/01/2026 15:17

Yes he should have contributed and not offering chocs is rude. I'd dump him as his behaviour will continue in this vein!

Rescuedog12 · 31/12/2025 15:08

Anyone having an issue with my pets would be enough for me to end it.heard too many times of cruelty once thd boyfriend has moved in.

pimplebum · 31/12/2025 14:30

The fact he didn’t offer to do the shop with you and pay OR given you a really nice present in lieu of cash OR taken you out for a lovely meal shows he is a tight thoughtless man and I’d be rethinking this relationship it sounds like hard work and I’d be asking more what about ery questions

also the fall out with the parents is a red flag I’d be concerned about how they function as a family and on going drama

BillieWiper · 31/12/2025 13:23

Why are you so obsessed with how many Xmas chocolates each person ate? You're coming off really tight on that front. It seems your bf is even tighter though.

Can't you just go to a shop and buy as much chocolate as you want for yourself?

It's a shame he didn't want to pay halves. But really it shouldn't been discussed before you did so. Or you should've wrote a list of half the food and told him to get it. If it was going to lead to resentment.

Having said that if I was him and you asked for the money afterwards I'd just pay you. Assuming you wouldn't accept him buying you a meal out of a similar value at some point soon as recompense.

MaddestGranny · 31/12/2025 13:17

As several other posters have mentioned: there are lots of red flags here. You seem a little too trusting, OP. Seems like the charm offensive and love-bombing phase is well and truly over and the various moves into gaslighting towards coercive control have begun. Watch out. The cat / mattress comment was very revealing. I'd be thinking about disentangling yourself from this man.

Inertia · 31/12/2025 10:30

He should have offered to contribute either money or food to Christmas dinner, but clearly isn’t going to.

He seems to have a lot of opinions about how things should work in your home - was it him that wanted the new mattress?

You could try suggesting that as you paid for Christmas dinner, it’s his turn to pay for both of you for the New Year dinner and see what he says. If the answer is no, as I suspect it will be, take cash to cover your share and explain at the start that you’re unexpectedly on a very tight budget so can only pay for your own.

I wouldn’t expect everyone to share gift chocolates- we’d buy household chocolates to share.

Lots of red flags with this man- the one that would bother me most is that he seems to have grudges against your son and your cat.

Summerhut2025 · 31/12/2025 10:12

Just another typical man who thinks Christmas is all the woman’s responsibility, I would leave it for now but keep it in your back pocket and watch how he behaves moving forward. As Christmas approaches next year mention to him that if you end up hosting again you will expect him to contribute or he can F off.

Hopingtobeaparent · 31/12/2025 08:44

PhotoFirePoet · 30/12/2025 21:32

Excellent post

@SantaHatCat

An excellent post indeed! The cat comment when you chased him up on the mattress payment promise says ALOT!

I think BF is heading for the bin…. You can’t unsee what you now see, and now you see his bullshit, you’ll see more of it.

You deserve better, OP.

21secondstopassthemic · 31/12/2025 06:16

Don't offer to host if you can't afford it. Your penny-pinching over a meagre sum of money and the number of chocolates your guests ate shows that you either cannot afford it or you are incredibly stingy.

Skibbidirizzohio · 31/12/2025 06:16

He’s stingey AND has no shelves in his oven. Does he have sheets on his bed? Is he one of those?

changeme4this · 31/12/2025 04:49

SantaHatCat · 30/12/2025 20:53

No, we will be going to one pub before we meet for the meal. There we will be splitting the bill with friends at the end of the night

Opt out of the bill sharing and sit on your drink you bought.

Wooky073 · 30/12/2025 22:53

I think a few things have gone wrong here.

Firstly when you suggested hosting you could have posed the idea of hosting but said financially you would struggle to cover all costs but would he get the drinks and you get the food - so you are clear on contributions in the planning stage. Then if he was to decide no he doesnt want to cover any costs you discuss it and maybe you change the plans to host accordingly. So you needed to be clearer at the outset really.

I think probably when you offered to host he assumed you were hosting the full works. Thats normal. Guests only normally offer token contributions or bring a bottle of wine or a plant or flowers etc. I think you thought you were hosting as a couple but he didnt get this and you didnt express this. I think to host the whole thing without agreeing you are hosting as a couple and then ask retrospectively for costs to be covered is likely to be considered as unreasonable by others.

I have had a friend who hosted but organised a chef and asked in advance for a contribution to the meal (I think it was £20 each). Unusual but she was clear from the outset giving folk the chance to agree or decline.

Yes monitoring the chocolates being shared does seem petty - I guess as you were irked by the other things this just added to it. But because your family and upbringing is to share and offer doesn't mean that this is how everyone is. It was the choice of others to share and the choice of him to not share.

I would just chalk this up to experience, and future be clearer about expectations in advance. Maybe get your BF to pay for a date night out and explain you are broke. Life has a way of balancing out.

Hibernatingsloth · 30/12/2025 22:50

OP much as I think your bf sounds a bit stingy I do think you're being incredibly petty.
If your bf's parents had hosted as planned, they wouldn't have asked either you or your son to contribute towards the meal and/or alcohol.
Yes, you say you'd have brought them a small token gift, but that's not the same as paying towards the meal/drinks.
I do believe that if you offer to host,that's yourchoice to do so, and you certainly shouldn't be asking anyone for a donation after the event.
As for the chocolates...your choice to buy them, your choice to share them, your bf chose not to.

Anywherebuthere · 30/12/2025 22:45

SantaHatCat · 30/12/2025 20:20

I hear your comments but we are a couple so why, when that is the case do you feel I should pay for the day in its entirety. Would you think it was fair if it were you in my position. I hosted last year too. I could say it was my bf’s turn but I bridged the gap despite his parents changing our plans. All this on top of me being the lower earner. You are entitled to your opinion. It is interesting. I only had £100 maximum to spend - that is how I achieved it.

If I host I pay. If I couldn't afford it I wouldn't do it. Its always best to spend within your means. I would never take or expect payment as a host.

You maybe in a relationship but you don't live together or share finances yet.

ScabbyHorse · 30/12/2025 22:40

I think the best thing would have been to take him shopping with you for the Christmas food and ask him to share the cost then.

Anywherebuthere · 30/12/2025 22:36

SantaHatCat · 29/12/2025 07:56

It was decided I’d host as my bf has no shelves in his oven (so can’t cook turkey or roasties) and as my ds still lives at home we’d stay at mine.

Edited

Whatever the reason and last minute or not, if you chose to host you should be paying. If that was a problem and you wanted payment then you should have been discussed this beforehand.

This relationship probably isn't for you. Neither of you sound too generous. You will forever be monitoring what he consumes and calculating if the costs balance. And he won't be contributing his fair share either.

Ophy83 · 30/12/2025 22:25

The chocolate thing is fine as it was a gift so presumably he was taking his box home (where one would expect him to offer you some if he opens them when you are there).

I don't understand his attitude to the other food though. Even before we lived together my DH would have insisted on paying for a food shop if I was struggling and he was putting me to trouble/expense (which your bf was with his family issues). He also would have done an equal share of cooking - you're not "hosting", you're a couple

Millytante · 30/12/2025 22:15

SantaHatCat · 30/12/2025 20:20

I hear your comments but we are a couple so why, when that is the case do you feel I should pay for the day in its entirety. Would you think it was fair if it were you in my position. I hosted last year too. I could say it was my bf’s turn but I bridged the gap despite his parents changing our plans. All this on top of me being the lower earner. You are entitled to your opinion. It is interesting. I only had £100 maximum to spend - that is how I achieved it.

A couple, maybe so, but you aren’t engaged and living together with a joint account are you? As you are still separate entities in the practical sphere, independent £SD responsibility is quite normal. (You have a teenaged son who is not this man’s responsibility, which adds a layer to that, as well.)

Unless you two have an unusually frank (for you as a couple) discussion about your current expectations of his support for your household, you are going to be eating your heart out over the same theme after every date.
You both may be watching completely different relationship movies here (it sounds that way yo me, at any rate) and unless you spell out to him what you require of him, and assess his feelings for you by his reaction, you are just hitting your head against a wall.

(I’d bin the whole thing, myself, as I’ve said before. His family sound too tiresome, and he will give you an ulcer.)

ThisBrickOtter · 30/12/2025 22:04

I bet the boyfriend is generally a tight arse. Not sharing chocolate, when everyone else is sharing chocolate, is nuts.

Also yes OF COURSE he should have contributed. What's all this 'hostess with the mostess' nonsense? I'll accept that argument when I see a man host a damned thing that isn't ultimately self-serving.

TravelledLodger · 30/12/2025 22:03

Actions speak.louder than words OP.

If course, he should chip in for the food! If he cared about you at all and wasn't a tight arse, he would put his hand in his pocket willingly given that you're currently out of work.

I wouldn't be going out tomorrow night.

PhotoFirePoet · 30/12/2025 21:32

LadyBlakeneysHanky · 29/12/2025 10:34

Sounds like BF is unable to recognise basic social cues and needs to be parented - which will make him a selfish, unreliable and not fully adult partner in a relationship. He sounds to me as though he’s stuck at the developmental stage of a 13 year old boy, for whatever reason.

The normal thing to do in the Xmas circumstances would have been to go shopping together, or at least ask what part of the meal he should have provided.

Not helping with the cooking suggests he assumes he will be cared for -‘parented’- and does not recognise the responsible, adult, participatory role he is called on to play as an adult in a relationship.

Not having oven shelves suggests he doesn’t look after himself & doesn’t see the need to.

Keeping his box of chocs unopened while everyone else offered theirs is failing to see & react to a really obvious social cue.

The unreliability about the mattress suggests he does not understand that people will remember & rely on what he says. The rudeness about it (the cat comment) suggests lack of maturity. Really not an adult’s response - this is a 13 year old’s comment.

The grandiose promises about the future without any serious planning similarly sound like something a young teen or child would say - without any real thought or detail - without realising in the adult world this will lead to reliance.

The framing of the hot chocolate as a ‘treat’ is childlike & not something you’d expect in an adult relationship.

I would say there is something more significant going on here, about his social & emotional capacity & development, & that unless he’s willing to address his difficulty with social cues, & immaturity, and unless you are willing to take on the (possibly very unrewarding) task of helping him do so, it’s time to end things.

And the idea that ‘love keeps no score’- the mantra of abusive & exploitative men everywhere. Don’t fall for that crap 🤢.

Excellent post

Pessismistic · 30/12/2025 21:24

Hi op your feeling resentful because he basically shut you down by saying stupid words or going quiet. He has no intention of giving you any money. I would not push for the money now but would definitely not do anything like this again that’s going to cost you money and time. As others said he is stingy but also a liar he offers you but doesn’t follow it through because he has no intention he’s telling you what you want to hear. The fact he knows you’re short on cash means he really doesn’t care enough about you. Once nye is out of the way I would rethink your situation unless your going to ignore the lies and stinginess not a great catch but might be good enough for you.