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Devastated with my life at age 31

271 replies

67666d · 21/05/2024 18:30

I feel like I'm suffocating and I'm completely exasperated and I'm turning into an irritable person. I never thought I would be an irritable person. I can't cope with anything anymore. I never imagined that I'd be so unhappy at my age of 31. I don't want this life anymore.

I've been unemployed for 10 months and I've been living off of the money I inherited from my grandparents (I had savings of £60,000 and I believe they have now gone down to £15,000). I feel so devastated and so ashamed. I can't even bring myself to check my bank accounts because I know that it will kill me and shake me to the core. I haven't spent the money on anything substantial or worthwhile, I don't know what its gone on but its gone on me treating myself to things and driving lessons with different instructors that have led to nothing. I haven't had any self control with the money and I've been dipping into it without a care for years.

I wasn't progressing with the driving lessons and the driving instructor basically told me that he didn't think I should carry on with the lessons and that he didn't want to keep taking my money when he thought I wouldn't get anywhere. Its really knocked and shaken my confidence.

The money was supposed to be for my future, for me and my boyfriend. My boyfriend is the love of my life and the best thing that has ever happened to me. It was supposed to be used for us to buy our first home.

I'm so ashamed that I haven't held onto the money, it could have been used as deposit money for our first home, money for my first car, money towards our first child, money for renovations on our first home, money for a wedding, money for travelling, money for retirement, money for investing, money for university, money for a holiday home, money for a pet.

Its sickening. I don't want access to the money anymore, I want to cut off all of my access to it. But, I need to pay rent which means I need to pay £800 a month. My savings will probably run out on rent unless I find a job to cover it. You cannot imagine the devastation of my life.

He found out about the money last night, when he asked me about it and I told him that half of the money has already gone. The reality is that even more than half of it has gone. It will kill me to have to tell him. We were out at a pub and were planning to go to a nearby restaurant to get dinner after we had finished our drinks. Well, my boyfriend asked me about the money and you know I told him that half of it has gone. It was very painful. He told me that he felt sick as in it made him sick to hear how much was gone. He told me that I should move back in with my parents and sort myself out. My boyfriend told me how unhappy he is and how he has been waiting for me to find a job for 10 months, how I haven't tried hard enough with the time I've had. The conversation got harder and harder and more and more painful... he said that things are always about me which is true and that he's tired of things always been about me, he said he feels that he doesn't have anybody to look out for him or encourage him or motivate him. He works so hard and has struggled with his mental health. It broke my heart to hear this. We finished our drinks and we were both very drained and upset, my boyfriend said he wanted to get the train home, my boyfriend was crying on the train home. It was the worst day of my life. We got home and he got straight into bed and I could hear him crying in bed. I didn't feel I could comfort him as I've caused all of this. Neither of us had anything for dinner and it was horrible- I still feel weak and out of sorts today.

I've been looking for a job half-heartedly (to be completely honest), I've started to try in the past month. I know its really shameful. I found looking at jobs to be overwhelming as I felt like there was nothing I could do. I don't have any qualifications, no degree or anything and my previous work experience only means I could only look at low paid jobs. I just feel so undesirable and so unfulfilled. I can't see these type of jobs lead me to any of the goals I have... like I want to have a family with my boyfriend. We've been together for 12 years and I'm 31 going on 32. I went through an abortion five years ago and it still fills me with grief, torment and pain. I will probably need fertility treatment as well, given that I'm nearly 32 and I have no idea when we will even be able to try for our first child.

We also have a massive issue with our next door neighbour, it is completely unbearable. We can hear her all of the time, she is so overbearing and so loud. She doesn't go out to work and is in our shared garden all day long. She sits outside our windows and talks as loudly as she can on speakerphone, or talks with her husband or talks with anybody coming through the garden. My boyfriend blasts music to drown out the sound of her. My boyfriend has been telling me that he is desperate to move and that he hates living here because of her. He also works from home and he can't open his office window because she sits directly below it in the garden, so he works all through the summer with his window closed. It's unbearable, its making him angry and how can I blame him when he's been waiting for such a long time. We CAN'T move now because I don't have a job and because we don't want to be able to buy somewhere. We have been renting for all of our lives and don't want to have to rent again.

I feel so guilty that I've not tried harder and that I've wasted so much time. The guilt could eat my alive.

I feel like I'm going completely mad. I'm so unsettled and things are so unstable.

My mum has messaged me today about a big family get together next month, for my grandmas birthday and she wants me to let her know if I'm going. I don't feel like I'm in a good enough place to be around people when I'm so devastated with where I am in life at age 31. I felt like I was going to flip out when I saw the message. I've just gotten back from visiting family and I don't feel I was in the right state of mind to visit. Then again if I don't go, I'll end up feeling guilty and they will know that any excuse I make is a lie as I'm unemployed and have all of the free time in the world. I feel like such a terrible and conflicted person, it's exhausting. I want to be to type of person that makes other people feel proud.

OP posts:
XiCi · 06/06/2024 19:42

Well done OP, that all sounds really positive. Can I ask where you found the productivity meditation course? I could really do with that myself!

BananaSpanner · 06/06/2024 21:29

Well done OP. That’s a really productive day, keep going.

auntyElle · 06/06/2024 21:47

Well, when I told my boyfriend i was pregnant, he went to his computer to look up unplanned pregnancy options straight away and started reading me information about the abortion pill. He said that we weren't in any type of position to consider or be able to have a child . he felt we had no option and abortion was our only option. He said having it would ruin his life. He said he would run away. He said I would have to move back in with my parents, and he would have to come and visit me and the child.

Your boyfriend is an abusive piece of shit.

He pressurised you into an abortion that still haunts you. That is absolutely unforgivable.

You will never have a happy family as long as you stay with him, and very likely no children at all. He has already wasted so many of your fertile years. How many more will you let him waste?

You can't begin to create the life you want until you get away from him.

Your were very young when you got together and he has manipulated and controlled you, so it will be very hard to even imagine life without him. But you can only start there.

GardeningIdiot · 06/06/2024 21:56

Did no one else read about the boyfriend coercing OP into an abortion? I feel like I'm on a different thread to posters talking about how she should get a job to allow her to have a baby with this abusive man. A job should be your way out of this relationship, OP, if you ever want to actually have a family.

You were 19 when you began a relationship with him? How old was he?

CocoPlum · 07/06/2024 16:14

GardeningIdiot · 06/06/2024 21:56

Did no one else read about the boyfriend coercing OP into an abortion? I feel like I'm on a different thread to posters talking about how she should get a job to allow her to have a baby with this abusive man. A job should be your way out of this relationship, OP, if you ever want to actually have a family.

You were 19 when you began a relationship with him? How old was he?

Same ... it's bizarre that only a couple of people have commented on it. OP you'd been together years when you got pregnant, you were mid 20s (if I'm remembering right, 26-27?) and you were planning a future together. Why did he not want the baby?

67666d · 07/06/2024 16:22

GardeningIdiot · 06/06/2024 21:56

Did no one else read about the boyfriend coercing OP into an abortion? I feel like I'm on a different thread to posters talking about how she should get a job to allow her to have a baby with this abusive man. A job should be your way out of this relationship, OP, if you ever want to actually have a family.

You were 19 when you began a relationship with him? How old was he?

Well, I believe we first started talking when he was aged 15.

OP posts:
67666d · 07/06/2024 16:55

CocoPlum · 07/06/2024 16:14

Same ... it's bizarre that only a couple of people have commented on it. OP you'd been together years when you got pregnant, you were mid 20s (if I'm remembering right, 26-27?) and you were planning a future together. Why did he not want the baby?

Well, I believe that he just didn't feel ready to think about having a baby. He was only 24 at the time I found out I was pregnant (I believe). We were renting a cramped 1 bedroom flat at the time. He was still unsatisfied with my job at the time and wanted me to aim higher and be more ambitious. I also felt the same and still do even though its 5 years later. I am exasperated and frustrated. My biggest wish in life is to not have anything hanging over me.

I was 26 when I found out I was pregnant and I would have turned 27 during the pregnancy. I was in the abortion clinic and I had to go to the toilet to take the pills after having just been in two previous appointments, I fantasised about not taking the pills and just walking straight out of the clinic and letting my baby live. I ended up just taking the pills because I felt I had to. (and I'm sorry if this is too much to share but I wish I had chosen myself.)

You know, I just couldn't help but ask him a few weeks after him finding out I was pregnant and before the abortion if he would not have loved the baby. He said that he wouldn't, that he wouldn't have felt any love for the baby after it was born, that he wouldn't be able to write his name on the birth certificate . I felt it wouldn't have been enough for my baby, I wanted the baby to be loved and wanted and accepted by him. I already loved the baby, they were my baby and I . After the abortion, as the months went on; I knew when my baby would have been born. I kept checking to see how many weeks pregnant I should have been. Going through the Christmas period was devastating, I would have been like 34 weeks pregnant, I would have felt like I was in a dream.

The pain is immeasurable. I think about my baby every single day, the pain never goes away. It's gotten harder as the years have gone on and I know it will always be there.

It's just devastating, I still feel like I can't make any decisions about having children. I think I've just been completely broken.

OP posts:
GardeningIdiot · 07/06/2024 17:13

The pain is immeasurable. I think about my baby every single day, the pain never goes away. It's gotten harder as the years have gone on and I know it will always be there.

I would imagine that if you start to let yourself feel it, you will be so very angry with him for this behaviour.

And for his continuing attempts to control and undermine you.

I'm not sure if you're going to be able to face it though, OP. Perhaps with the help of a therapist? (Don't say you can't afford it. The rest of your life depends on your ability to see your life clearly right now, while you still have time to meet a man who genuinely will want to have children with you.)

Coastallife36385 · 07/06/2024 19:03

I am sorry that happened to you, OP. I too think you can’t stay with him. Not after what happened. You are traumatized by being coerced to have an abortion so as not to let him down, against your own wishes deep down. It will keep eating you from the inside until you address it. It already is. I know it’s hard.
Listen to your inner voice, first and foremost. Do not let him tell you what to do any longer.
Getting a job, and perhaps moving out, will help you to start doing so.

Smittenkitchen · 07/06/2024 22:33

Well done on taking some really positive steps OP! That all sounds great.
I am not completely convinced that the relationship is altogether right.

XiCi · 08/06/2024 11:00

Oh OP. The more you post about your boyfriend the worse he sounds. He doesn't appear to bring anything positive to your life. It may be that it takes leaving him for your MH to improve. It doesn't sound as if you will have your dream of a family if you stay with him. I know it doesn't feel like it but you are in a good position. You have 30k behind you. Take it and start a better life without him, even if you have to move back in with family for a bit while you find a job. This relationship is not good for you.

67666d · 09/06/2024 17:48

Coastallife36385 · 07/06/2024 19:03

I am sorry that happened to you, OP. I too think you can’t stay with him. Not after what happened. You are traumatized by being coerced to have an abortion so as not to let him down, against your own wishes deep down. It will keep eating you from the inside until you address it. It already is. I know it’s hard.
Listen to your inner voice, first and foremost. Do not let him tell you what to do any longer.
Getting a job, and perhaps moving out, will help you to start doing so.

Yes yes the relationship is not perfect by any means. It is a failing relationship because I haven't been able to find a way to improve my job situation ever since being in the relationship. And it's not all about money at all, but my job affects what we can do with our lives and the type of life we can lead (me and my boyfriends life).

Yes, my boyfriend didn't react well when I was pregnant but that was nearly 5 years ago. He has reflected and apologised twice for his behaviour in the past year on his own initiative. We have had lots of deep conversations and i've been very honest and told him how much I think about the abortion and how i have started to feel bitter and sad about the whole wanting 'kids' thing . He does understand me.

My boyfriend is doing his very best right now. He is very very generous, caring and incredibly sweet. He buys me flowers in the supermarket impromptu. He drives me places every weekend. He encourages me to take walks when he's working all day in the week and I've spent all day on my laptop in our bedroom. He checks to see if I've eaten anything for breakfast or lunch. He looks out for me. He offers to pay for everything when we go out on the weekend (admission tickets, food, drinks). He wants the best for me. He encourages me.

Things are not easy for him right now. He is tired at his job and burnt-out. He wants to leave or take break from his job, but doesn't really feel like he can because I don't have a job and we are paying a lot of money in rent. we have been renting for like 8 years now and he is desperate for us to have our own place. He broke down when we had a talk a few months ago when he told me he much he wants us to have our own home, somewhere where he can feel calm and secure and we can both shared those feelings. I've seen him at the lowest of lows. He also hates our neighbour.

I feel like such an unbelievable failure of a girlfriend.

OP posts:
PeppyTealDuck · 09/06/2024 17:54

It is a failing relationship because I haven't been able to find a way to improve my job situation

Are you sure? You’ve failed to seriously look for a job, that’s right, but since when does that make for a failing relationship? Hard, maybe, but a partner is supposed to be there to support you when you need it. Not to make you feel like a financial liability.

bozzabollix · 09/06/2024 18:14

I also agree with the others, this isn’t a positive relationship for you. He seems to have certain expectations of you which is a pressure. Pushing you into an abortion was pretty unforgivable, but I don’t think he’d be a good father and I doubt your relationship would’ve stood the pressure.

The saying is ‘fake it until you make it’, you may not feel like going and doing an exercise class, or applying for jobs, but the more you get out there the better you will feel. You seem to be in a depressive rut, but getting you out of it will take kindness and understanding, not ‘you should have been doing better by now’. That’s negative and pointless.

London is a nightmare for finding a nice affordable property, do you actually need to be there? There are far more affordable places within striking distance of London where you could get that nice private garden.

And my first child was born when I was 34, second at 39, both conceived pretty instantly. It’s not too late.

Spudthespanner · 09/06/2024 19:42

PeppyTealDuck · 09/06/2024 17:54

It is a failing relationship because I haven't been able to find a way to improve my job situation

Are you sure? You’ve failed to seriously look for a job, that’s right, but since when does that make for a failing relationship? Hard, maybe, but a partner is supposed to be there to support you when you need it. Not to make you feel like a financial liability.

Absolutely not. The OP is taking the piss and if the same thread were to be posted about a man the cries of "cocklodger" would be resounding.

OP needs to chuck the victim mentality and get a job. Leave your boyfriend by all means OP if you think the relationship isn't working. But you'll still need to get a job and sort yourself out.

67666d · 14/06/2024 13:17

I've just had two job interviews guys (one today and one yesterday)...

I feel like crashing out now lol 😌

Feeling sad and empty very deep down again as well.... I've been thinking about my child again

EDITED: I've just checked my email after writing this and I've been invited for another interview so that's three job interviews now. That is crazy. 😏 💥

OP posts:
Gladiator552 · 14/06/2024 19:03

@67666d great news, good luck 🤞

anothernamitynamenamechange · 14/06/2024 20:42

Thats great news. Interviews are like buses really...

Smittenkitchen · 14/06/2024 21:21

That's wonderful OP! Well done for putting yourself out there!

67666d · 27/06/2024 17:58

My boyfriend is acting unbearably right now and since the start of the week.

I can't even say one thing without it winding him up or being the wrong thing to say or even when he speaks to me first - whatever I say or do is wrong. He is so angry, harsh and over-opinionated all of the time.

He has turned into a monster. I don't think he loves me anymore. I'm really ashamed to write this but I've started to feel scared of him. I've started going into different rooms of the house to avoid him. 😔

This is unbearable. The neighbour has been really bad as well the past few days, it feels like we have a third person living with us.

You don't even want to hear about what happened yesterday?

Maybe it's me. Maybe there's something wrong with me.

OP posts:
anothernamitynamenamechange · 27/06/2024 18:39

Do you think its relevant that he is behaving like this just at the point that you are really starting to make progress with your job search/general life malaise? It seems a bit like sabotage...

Silvers11 · 27/06/2024 19:51

Nothing wrong with you OP - plenty wrong with your shit boyfriend though

HappierTimesAhead · 27/06/2024 20:16

I've just read all your posts @67666d and honestly, you have to leave this relationship.
Please hear this, it's not you! Your mental health is low because you have unresolved trauma from being forced into an abortion by your boyfriend. Your relationship cannot come back from that. I also suspect he is emotionally abusive in other ways that you have not fully recognised or acknowledged yet.
You are YOUNG, you have your life ahead of you and you can come back from this. You are lovely and worthy and you just need to start afresh without him.

67666d · 03/07/2024 15:53

Hi

OP posts:
MyCatHatesSandals · 03/07/2024 16:08

OP, I was a therapist.

The way out of this is professional help. You have money; pay for a psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapist.

You'll find every reason not to do this, but it's the only thing that is going to help.

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