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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

stupid fight about prosecco

162 replies

TotHappy · 23/03/2018 10:17

But not really about prosecco i guess.
I'm going away this weekend with old friends, I'm driving while they're training so I've got all the food and drink and they're saying me back. The money for this weekend has come out of payment for some overtime i did in the last couple of months - so over and above my regular wage. Dh and i pool our wages and after all bills are deducted, split the remainder 3 ways - the usual result is £150 each as spending money plus £100 joint 'fun money' to do things together or as a family.
When i got this extra lump of cash we discussed what to do, i said i wanted to do this weekend and he agreed (enthusiastically). He got a similar amount recently (unexpected inheritance) and spent some of it on paint and other stuff to decorate the kitchen - his,idea, his choice, i actually didn't know about it until he'd started. I assume the rest went into his general spending money.

Last night i picked him up from a,meeting and after dinner he asked if we had any wine, i said no, he said can i have one from your stash (for the weekend), i said no, it's for the weekend. He said, you could replace it tomorrow? And i said 'if i wanted to go shopping tomorrow (on the way there), i wouldn't have gone today! Bit rude, admittedly, i was stressed out about packing etc I'm afraid.

Later on he said he was really angry at,being told 'no' like that. He said a lot of things, over and over, but the general gist is that its how you would speak to a junior at work, and he didn't like coming home from a day at work, followed by another stressful meeting to be just told 'no, you can't have that' about something we do have . This escalated to a huge row all about finances in general and me being controlling. The back story here is - he is shit with money and,has,been since we married, so a few years,ago we moved all the direct debits etc to my bank account, every month he pays his wages over to me minus his spending share. I recognise that i am quite controlling of our money, because i worry so much about him pissing it all up the wall, but i dispute his argument here that the weekend prosecco was bought with 'his' money. It didn't come out of the family budget, i bought it on cc, will be partly reimbursed by friends and pay the rest off when my overtime comes in at end of the month. He says if I'd asked him, he would have agreed in a heartbeat and gone out to replace today. He agreed i have a 'right' to say no but says,he never would to me.
I feel he's implying I should say,yes to whatever he asks, even if inconvenient and i think, why? To me it was just a casual request and a casual denial. Nothing stopping him going out to buy some for himself. As it was he went ahead and opened it anyway so i had to drive out at 10pm and replace it as i really didn't want to stop today.
He agreed in the argument that.i am right 'within the letter of the law' but clearly felt i was,being a tight, selfish bitch. I feel that if you ask for a favour/gift and are then outraged that its refused, then you weren't really asking but demanding, and he's basically implying that whatever he asks for, i have to give him if i love him properly.

All this over fucking prosecco!!!! What,do you think? Am i just being tight and selfish? Our views are so totally opposed that i felt genuinely bewildered during the row and need some perspective.

OP posts:
Looneytune253 · 23/03/2018 10:20

Tbh I would be quite upset if dh had something I really wanted and wouldn’t let me borrow it and replace tomorrow. That would really bother me as we share everything.

Lethaldrizzle · 23/03/2018 10:23

I think you are both a little bit in the wrong. He should have sorted out his own booze but saying no to him was also a but mean. And not sure why you had to go out at 10pm to buy more other then make a point. Also I can't relate to split pots of money as we just share everything, one account etc. But his behaviour was annoying

rjay123 · 23/03/2018 10:25

Looney - but it isn’t the OPs exclusively. It was bought for a purpose and to avoid having to buy when travelling etc.

The biggest issue here to me is that your DH asked. You said no. He argued in an attempt to make you change your mind. You stood your ground. He did it anyway.

So he knew your attitude and feelings, and completely disregarded them, probably to make a point. “I know you said no, but you don’t say no to me. I do what I want”.

He’s a cockwomble.

PinkHeart5914 · 23/03/2018 10:29

Honestly after a meeting I would of let him open a bottle of my stash tbh! FFS if you 1 bottle less would your time away really have fallen apart?

If dh had a stash of wine and told me no I’d be a bit Hmm as imo it is selfish

Birdsgottafly · 23/03/2018 10:30

Couldn't you have stopped somewhere after the meeting to pick up a bottle? It seems to have escalated when it shouldn't have.

He shouldn't have just took a bottle and tried to emotionally blackmail you. But as said, I would have felt hurt by my Partner refusing me one, unless he had to show receipts etc to others.

However I don't think this argument is over a bottle of wine. You need to have a talk about what's underneath it. Which didn't he tell you he was going to paint the kitchen. Would you have wanted an analysis of it and he thought it wasn't worth the hassle?

Have you put yourself in general control without realising it?

Buglife · 23/03/2018 10:34

I agree if DH has a load of wine in and I said let’s have a bottle and I’ll replace it and he acted like it was his precious wine and not for the likes of me I’d be annoyed. I’d eek like I was being treated like a naughty child who couldn’t be trusted to replace it, or a freeloader in my own home. It’s no skin off my nose who has/drinks what in the household, it all comes out in the wash and neither of us keeps a running account of what belongs to who. We don’t have issues with/argue about money though.

And no one on your weekend was going to notice 1 bottle less even if he didn’t replace it... if you thought he wasn’t going to.

SaucyJack · 23/03/2018 10:39

How far away is the nearest shop?

We'd never argue about something like that here- but TBF we live in a suburban wonderland with a Co-op on every corner.

If it took you seriously out of your way to replace the bottle, then maybe you might have had a point.

If it would've meant a 30 second stop-off the next morning, then you sound a bit uptight.

BusterTheBulldog · 23/03/2018 10:40

I’m not commenting on the back story stuff, but YANBU about giving him a bottle of wine! It was bought for the weekend ahead, planned with friends. Why should you inconvinience yourself when you’ve gone to the effort of planning ahead?! Things like this drive me mad as I’m a natural planner. He could easily have popped to the shop to get his own.

PugwallsSummer · 23/03/2018 10:40

I agree with the PP who made the point that you said 'no', he argued, you maintained your stance so he did it anyway.

You can apply this to anything. Your "no" should have been enough.

If he'd had a bad day and wanted a bottle of wine, he could have picked some up himself rather than inconvenience you.

Regarding your stance with money - he has shown form for being irresponsible so you look after the finances to ensure that everything that needs paying gets paid. Both of you have equal spending money. He chose what to do with his own inheritance, you chose what to do with your overtime. Sounds fair to me.

BusterTheBulldog · 23/03/2018 10:42

But it’s never going to be a 30 second stop off is it? It’s going to be more like 5-10 mins minimum (detour, park, go in, locate, queue, pay, go back to car) so plans for morning change. Things like this REALLY piss me off, can you tell?! Grin

Huntinginthedark · 23/03/2018 10:43

I think it's a bit petty and tight not to give the wine. I wouldnt have hesitated. it would have just been a nice thing to do.

YouBetterWORK · 23/03/2018 10:44

Agree with rjay. Yes, it not might have been such a big deal to say yes but you were well within your rights to say no. He even agreed as such!!

If it was my DH he might have gone off in a sulk but soon got over it.

But his attitude of "you can say no, but you can't say no to me", and took what he wanted anyway. Angry

To quote the latest series of Jessica Jones, how rapey. He wouldn't ask his boss for something then go ahead and do it if boss said no. It shows a compete lack of respect and I'm not sure if it's just good old male privilege at play or if he sees you as less than him. He words say one thing, his actions another and I'd have his balls over the coals for that!

NoqontroI · 23/03/2018 10:45

God did he need it so much he it took it anyway? That's a bit shit. Yanbu op.

BusterTheBulldog · 23/03/2018 10:46

But it’s taking it away from the people it is planned to be shared with? So they go without / op has to make an extra trip when he could either get his own or go without. If he was offering to nip to shops before work and replace then would be fine.

BitOutOfPractice · 23/03/2018 10:47

Sorry but I think you were being a bit petty too. Not too much of a hardship to stop today is it?

Inseoir · 23/03/2018 10:47

It looks like you and your DH have ended up in a really bad place due to past events. Your money situation is rather complicated and it's clear that you don't trust your DH. There may be very good reasons for that, but your DH is understandably feeling hard done by that he is restricted. Being in a position where you have control over your partner isn't good - it sets up a power imbalance. It sounds like the prosecco was a trigger for your DH expressing a lot of pent up frustration that's been building for a while. That said, if the situation was made more fair and your DH spunked all your money, that wouldn't be good either.

Unfortunately incompatible views on money can be a marriage killer. You need to have a good chat about this (not a fight) and see if any situation can be arrived at that genuinely suits both of you. If that's not possible you may have to think about where to go next.

diddl · 23/03/2018 10:47

" As it was he went ahead and opened it anyway "

What an arrogant bastard.

Could I just point out-HE NEVER INTENDED TO REPLACE IT!!

BitOutOfPractice · 23/03/2018 10:47

Rapey?!

diddl · 23/03/2018 10:49

"Not too much of a hardship to stop today is it?"

Why the fuck should she??

MayFayner · 23/03/2018 10:49

i am quite controlling of our money, because i worry so much about him pissing it all up the wall,

As in drinking the money?

MyKingdomForBrie · 23/03/2018 10:51

I wouldn’t have said no but that’s just me, I hate him being disappointed! He wouldn’t have said no to me either.

ChameleonsInCarsGettingCoffee · 23/03/2018 10:52

If he wanted the prosecco, why couldn't he have offered to replace it the next day? He has no qualms about putting others out but doesn't consider offering any himself.

Terrible that he went ahead and took it anyway. A complete lack of respect of your money, time and opinion.

YANBU.

TotHappy · 23/03/2018 10:53

Ok, so lots of you would feel the same as him. That's interesting. To be clear, the issue to me is not the cost of a bottle of wine - I could have got one for him while picking him up if he'd said he wanted it - its what Buster said about being the k d of person who plans ahead but then still has to run around last minute because of other people. My friends and me had a group shopping list, i got what was on it. They would have noticed a missing bottle. I got everything on the list and its all bagged up separately in our back room with receipt, it's not in our fridge or anything. In my head it's not 'my' smash, it's our stash, earmarked for something specific. If he'd explained after my no 'I know it's annoying for you to have to go out again but would you please, I'd really like a drink with you and to relax', i would've said yes. It struck me as a casual request, 'oh, do you mind...?' And i did mind, so i said so. I'm not still cross/frustrated because he drank a bottle. I'm cross and frustrated because of the 'I would always say yes to you' argument. I feel Hmm at the idea I always have to say yes to him because that's what partners do. That if I answer a request with 'No' I'm talking down to him.
Birdsgottafly, i tho k you're right. I need to step back from control generally and let him do things, including fuck things up if necessary. I do think i need to do that.

OP posts:
EastMidsMummy · 23/03/2018 10:53

I think you’re being petty and mean. What’s the worst thing that’s going to happen? A ten minute detour to stock up on wine? Which healthy relationship begrudges 10 minutes to help out your partner?

thenightsky · 23/03/2018 10:53

It depends how big the stash was tbh. If your stash was 6 bottles, then he shouldn't have drunk one and reduced it to 5. If however your stash was 20 bottles, then reducing it to 19 wouldn't make that much difference. This, in my opinion, is all about percentages.

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