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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:
EastMidsMummy · 23/03/2018 11:30

..or because he knows how unreasonable and moany you are, namechange

YearOfYouRemember · 23/03/2018 11:33

He said behaved worse by throwing his dick about and opening the booze anyway than you did by saying no and with a reasonable reason. If he was that desperate for a drink he could have shopped after work I assume ?

theeyeofthestormchaser · 23/03/2018 11:33

He asked. You said no. He argued. You didn't change your mind. He went ahead and did it anyway. You had to be inconvenienced by going out to buy more - he didn't offer to do that or to replace it.

He totally ignored what you wanted and had said to him. That's not good.

Does he do this with other things?

TotHappy · 23/03/2018 11:33

He would deny being an addict. I didn't mean to drip feed, sorry! Of course all addicts would deny it, i realise that, but it's hard for me to decide. The way and amount he drinks seems ott to me. But anyway. Let's all go on a prosecco drenched weekend!
Thank you for the advice - i do think it's about bigger things, power dynamic as you say and also me being too rigid with plans. I will practise chilling out. I should have deescalated and said ok, I'll go now and get some for s, but instead we both got entrenched in our I'm right ' attitude. Sigh.

OP posts:
derxa · 23/03/2018 11:34

He got a similar amount recently (unexpected inheritance) and spent some of it on paint and other stuff to decorate the kitchen What an absolute bastard.

SurlyValentine · 23/03/2018 11:38

I am definitely in need of a prosecco-fuelled weekend! Hope yours is fabulous @TotHappy Smile

SnorkFavour · 23/03/2018 11:40

I think he's totally in the wrong OP. I can't bear people who are disorganised and then make others put themselves out to sort it.

And you said no then he opened it anyway?? He shouldn't have asked in the first place. It sounds like he wanted to cause you a problem tbh.

AnnieAnoniMouse · 23/03/2018 11:49

Everyone’s relationship dynamics are different, every relationship you have, has different dynamics. It’s interesting to get other people’s views, but they’re not necessarily helpful - without all the facts. In most of my relationships I’d have said ‘Yeah, no problem’ and replaced it on my way (and I’m a bit of an organised, fussy, control freak too). However, in two of them I’d have said ‘No, sorry, you can’t, it’s for the weekend’ because one of them had a problem with alcohol (and would not have stopped at 1 had he started, then...blah blah) & the other was a lazy, disorganised, pita who was always borrowing/using something, not replacing it and generally just fucking annoying (I kept him around longer than I should have because, well, he had other things going for him 😂).

So, clearly you have the alcohol issue that you need to deal with - well, you need to deal with your emotions/reactions/decisions about it. Is he aware you think he’s got a problem with alcohol?

Is he right in saying that if you’d asked him, he would have let you have it and gone to replace it the next day?

Re the kitchen, had you already chosen the colours and decided what to do in there, but he went and hit the paint and started off his own bat, or did he choose the colour and just do what he wanted because it was ‘his’ money?

Money. You need to talk about what the problem is here. He probably does feel like a child, handing over all of his wages except for his ‘pocket money’, and as it was ‘years ago’ possibly feels resentful of the current set up. I can see both sides of this. You need to talk about it.

He spent some on paint, his choice, then kept the rest. You’re spending yours how you want. If he feels resentful of that, then he needs to speak up, not sulk. Also, he can’t agree that x money is yours then feel aggrieved if it’s not spent how he thinks it should be,

However, my BIGGEST issue, right now at least, would be that you said NO (reasonably OR unreasonably) to something that was YOURS (NOT something you both ‘had in the house’) and he took it anyway. Either his selfishness or alcoholism kicked in there - he needs to face up to which it was. He can feel as pissed off as he likes about you not letting him have it, but the minute he takes something that’s not shared and you’ve said no to, he’s crossed a line.

lattewith3shotsplease · 23/03/2018 11:51

So, he was stressed after work and his meeting (he told you this)

He came home to his "castle" (secure place- lock the world away-let your hair down) and you refused him a bottle of wine ?

This sounds like a "flat share" and not a loving relationship.

I'd be disgusted if a friend treated me this way, let alone my DP.

You do sound a bit of a "controlling" personality.

TomRavenscroft · 23/03/2018 11:53

being the kind of person who plans ahead but then still has to run around last minute because of other people.

This is what would piss me off too.

And he still took the wine, which he knew you had bought and were storing for a specific purpose. Hmm

I think he was throwing his weight around and stropping because you dared to say no to him.

MBlaze · 23/03/2018 11:55

YANBU, OP. If my DP had asked, I'd probably have said yes, but that he would have to replace it the next day. Just as I would only take something he had bought for a specific purpose, if I were willing to go out of my way to replace it.

Trinity66 · 23/03/2018 11:55

AnnieAnoniMouse

That's a pretty sensible post, agree with all your points actually

StormTreader · 23/03/2018 11:59

"That when he has disposable cash he spends it on both of us, but i can't even share a bottle of wine with him. "

"I spent all my money on stuff you didnt ever ask for, so now out of YOUR stuff, I get to have......"

"He asked. You said no. He argued. You didn't change your mind. He went ahead and did it anyway. You had to be inconvenienced by going out to buy more - he didn't offer to do that or to replace it."

This ^, he could have gotten himself some but he looked at the effort of going to get it and thought "Nah, she can do that tomorrow, I'll have what shes already gone out and gotten in advance because thats more convenient for me".

knowwhereyourheadis · 23/03/2018 11:59

If he wants wine so much he can't go without, even after you said no then this is more of a problem than whether or not he took your "weekend" Prosecco.

diddl · 23/03/2018 12:01

"I should have deescalated and said ok, I'll go now and get some for s"

Or he could have suggested getting some if he was so bothered/desperate?

Can't help thinking it was more about drinking the wine that was earmarked for the weekend & thus putting Op out.

lightcola · 23/03/2018 12:08

Fuck that. He was being a child. It’s not like you sat there and drank in front of him and didn’t let him have any. It was for the weekend. Hope you enjoy your weekend away OP.

mummmy2017 · 23/03/2018 12:16

The best comment on here is about picking your battles.
A need to be in control of things that your not willing to share a bottle of wine and it causes all this flack says something about how you value and prioritize things.
Had you asked him for a tenner to replace it and told him just one bottle so you had a nice night before you went away for a weekend, meaning you either stopped for a replacement the next day or brandished the tenner to your mates tomorrow and had a laugh about you and your other half nicking one of the stash meaning happiness.
Or you stuck to your guns had a massive argument just so you can be right..

windchimesabotage · 23/03/2018 12:21

I actually agree with you OP. Id e pretty pissed off. If you buy something with the intention of it being for a specific purpose it is very annoying when someone uses it and you have to go and re buy it.
Id have said 'no' too and I think my husband would have respected that. Vice versa I would have listened to him if there were something in the house he had bought for a specific purpose and I asked to use it.

mummmy2017 · 23/03/2018 12:22

Honest answer please everyone.
Your home alone bottle of wine for tomorrow night. You really want a drink...do you drink it or drive to the shop......

windchimesabotage · 23/03/2018 12:24

well id ask my husband via text or messenger if he minded me drinking the wine that he bought and that I knew he was saving for a specific occasion.... and if he didnt reply or he replied 'no Im saving it' Then I wouldnt drink it because im not an absolute arse!

peacheachpearplum · 23/03/2018 12:26

I wouldn't be bothered about the prosecco but if I had a terrible day and my husband said I couldn't have some of his chocolate I would be really hurt. Sometimes we all need a bit of TLC.

GabsAlot · 23/03/2018 12:37

if u said no its no

why couldnt he get some on way home from work or mentioned it earlier

he done it anyway to prove some point i think thats controlling

StormTreader · 23/03/2018 12:40

"I wouldn't be bothered about the prosecco but if I had a terrible day and my husband said I couldn't have some of his chocolate I would be really hurt. Sometimes we all need a bit of TLC."

What about if it was chocolate he'd bought for his mums birthday the next day, would you eat that and tell him he could just buy more tomorrow?

kubex · 23/03/2018 12:40

How fucking ridiculous!

I can't even imagine being in a relationship where I begrudge giving my DP something I could easily replace before I needed it.

I completely agree with your DH - you are tight, selfish and controlling!

LittleLionMansMummy · 23/03/2018 12:41

Sorry op, but you do sound like hard work. I am perplexed that this escalated in the way it did.

What's wrong with: "Yes, I can see you've had a difficult day. Can you just make sure you replace it tomorrow before I leave, so I don't have to?"