My partner lies over stupid little things all the time..

[watsitcheeto]

My partner doesn't lie over big things (I don't think) but he often lies to get himself out of trouble. We've had our fair arguments over him covering his tracks but he's definitely getting better.

But I seem to spot that he lies over little things but things he had no reason to lie about. I would have loads of examples but they're usually so little I end up forgetting but most recently:

Me: "Did you have a good day at work?"

DP: "I got a packet of 20 off Joel today, it's going to be my last packet as i'm giving up... it only cost me a fiver as they're duty frees.. I've set myself a challenge to make these 20 last as long as possible"

Me: "That's cheap. What are we doing for dinner?".

On a search for a phone charger I went in his laptop bag to find that he had actually got a sleeve of fags of 10 boxes (one missing for what I presume he was smoking).

I asked him how he had 10 packets when he had said one and he said they were so cheap it made sense. I sensed it was going for an argument and I can't be bothered. I accepted he was a smoker when we met so I can't fathom why he'd blatantly lie when starting a conversation.

I wouldn’t continue with the relationship, lies no matter how small erode trust, you simply cannot trust someone who lies constantly. You will end up feeling foolish you believed the lies or angry that he thinks you’re an idiot for believing the lies, he will feel resentful about being questioned and you will resent his attitude.

My partner does this all the time about smoking.
It's always his last cigarette, until I find a packet or two lying around the house, then it's his last pack.
Repeat ad infinitum

Wow I would dump. No question.

That's not a 'silly' little lie - though tbh I'm trying to think of a lie here that can be called 'silly and little' and nope, most lies are just corrosive and shit unless it's 'Yes that red dress looks nice, don't worry'.

But that scenario isn't at all silly or trivial. It's a well-thought-out piece of fiction.

What it tells you is a. he lies like breathing and b. he has zero respect for you.

I could write paragraphs on why you should, 100%, get out of this relationship asap and definitely before you have children. But I'll just leave it at: you can't build a positive, happy life and future with a liar. You just can't. And - small things? No. People who lie like this JUST DO, and if anything big came up, they would absolutely act exactly as their character directs and lie lie lie lie lie.

Dump him.

Run, if he can easily lie to your face about one thing, it may escalate. That sort of thing sounds exhausting.

He has no integrity when he lies to you all the time
How can you trust him at all?

Is he scared you would tell him off for over spending or something? I used to do this as a teen, my mum was scary when she was angry so i lied to not be in trouble.

Trust me little lies turn into big lies as time goes on. My Ex could not tell the truth about anything even if his life depended on it.

YANBU, I hate lies, all lies, little pointless lies as well, why??? Being lied to makes me feel like the other person thinks I'm some sort of idiot

This would be a deal breaker for me. There is no way I could be with a compulsive liar!
It really doesn't matter how small the lie is, I would find this weird and not someone I could actually trust, which is surely the basis of any relationship.

My ex lied about all kind of things - some examples of how it escalated:

"I went to McDonalds for dinner today" - KFC wrappers on the front seat. I look at him - he rolls his eyes and says it was only a little lie

"No one has been in the car today, the passenger seat hasn't moved at all" - later over dinner - "Oh XX said today our car was really messy and you have the seat too far forward" - Ok so you lied? Eye rolls - "I knew you wouldn't like me driving another woman around"....

"Mum sent off that paperwork for me" (Incredibly important time sensitive documents for court to see his daughter a few years back). His mate calls him while in the car on speaker phone. "Yea don't worry mate, I dropped that paperwork off for you" He eye rolls at me again - Why does it matter if XX dropped it off instead of my mum? Well it doesn't, but why say she did it then?

"That photo on my phone of a hotel room booking isn't mine I don't know how it got there, or the picture of my female work colleague"
He now lives with his work colleague.

This stuff escalates - if they lie about the small stuff, the bigger stuff is much easier to lie about as well. My ex drove me into a situation where my mental health totally broke down and I became very poorly. The lies drove me to not knowing what was reality and what was fantasy. It took months of counselling to recover so any kind of lying would be a deal breaker for me for any future relationship :(

His little lies will become big lies, I guarantee it. Get rid.