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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask how many of you married for money?

311 replies

Quietsurrender · 23/04/2025 20:56

Because I am considering it.

Divorced with DC and starting to really struggle financially and now also in other ways.

OP posts:
Rewis · 23/04/2025 22:33

I think "marrying for money" is over simplifying it. What type of feelings are we talking about? He's absolutely repulsive and I hate being in the same room with but because he has money I'm able to disassociate enough to go through with sex? No, I wouldn't. But a nice guy, good looking, stable income maybe not the most passionate relationship. Why not, as long as there is some type of fondness and love that he's not getting screwed over.

Tiddlywinkly · 23/04/2025 22:35

Astrabees · 23/04/2025 22:08

In a heartbeat. After a life of very hard work combining motherhood with more than full time hours I think if I had my time again I’d go for someone loaded. Some of my friends married farmers and now they are retired and the farms are sold they have millions.

Interesting you should say this. I feel in love with a farmer's boy at uni. Turns out his family are minted, but you would never know day to day. Been together 20 plus years now and married for 14. He's my best friend.

I wouldn't marry for money, but it certainly does provide a level of security and options.

Silvertulips · 23/04/2025 22:36

Money is not the solution for all ills

Love is not the solution either.

You think a marriage is just an exchange of sex and money?

Well better than just sex and no money.

Rewis · 23/04/2025 22:37

The whole concept of marrying for money is complex. I think quite a few of us marry for money. We look for a partner with a stable income, educated, prospects etc. And we avoid people who are lifestyle unemployed, no money management skills and all that. So I'd say that is kinda marrying for money.

InterIgnis · 23/04/2025 22:37

Leafy74 · 23/04/2025 22:25

What if you fall in love with a poor man?

Personally, I didn’t date poor men, so the chances of falling in love with one were incredibly low.

CalmDownCats · 23/04/2025 22:38

I wouldn't necessarily marry for money. However, I would look for someone in similar financial circumstances to myself.

I am so over scooping men up from the gutter and have learnt the hard way. Twice I have done this and both have backfired. Both turned out to be incredibly selfish and uncaring, abusive men. They were in the gutter for a reason.

So on this basis alone, not just financial, it could be a sensible decision for me.

Iamuhtredsonofuhtred · 23/04/2025 22:38

Honestly? Sort of. I married my university boyfriend who is from a very wealthy family. I was totally in love with him at the start but after we had kids it started to fall apart. I knew deep down it wasn’t going to last (he spiralled into addiction) but I married him when he asked me because I was financially dependent on him and in a really vulnerable position. I’m grateful for the amazing experiences he gave me, but it also came with a huge amount of trauma. I regret choosing him for my children’s father, but marrying him was the smartest move I could do at the time.

My current partner isn’t well off, but he’s smart as hell, works his ass off and loves me like I’ve never been loved before. He’s an amazing dad to his kids and if I could do it all over, I’d do it with him. The right relationship will make you so much happier than wealth.

justasking111 · 23/04/2025 22:38

I know a woman whose husband ran off with a colleague. She was 60 so never expected to meet someone. An old boyfriend got in touch, we're talking high school here. He'd been widowed. Would she like to meet up.

It was a great success, they kept meeting, went on holidays, they fell in love again. Turned out he was immensely wealthy with properties in Europe, USA as well as the UK. They married.

Another friend who lost touch with a teenage boyfriend. He contacted her after they were both widowed in their late sixties. They're having a grand romance, no intention of marrying though.

mindutopia · 23/04/2025 22:38

Nope, Dh and I were both broke as all broke when we got married. I was still a student and Dh was earning £18k in his first job. 17 years on, we are financially very comfortable, but it’s because we’ve supported each other to be successful.

That said, I’m pretty sure my mum re-married in part for money. Stepdad earning £250k a year plus £100k+ bonuses. He’s dodgy as hell with a criminal record, none of her friends like him, and between them all their children and grandchildren are NC with them because of him. If you’re gonna marry for money, make sure you’re not marrying an absolute toxic wanker who will screw your life up.

GoldieLocks09 · 23/04/2025 22:39

Nowhere near marriage at the time, but quite seriously dated someone who had a hell of a lot of money about 10 years ago. Unfortunately I just wasn’t attracted to him, so broke things off after trying for a while. He was pretty smitten so was upset when it ended and tried to ‘buy’ me back.. that gave me the real ick.

Arancia · 23/04/2025 22:39

Leafy74 · 23/04/2025 22:26

One person gets money, the other gets sex.

That's not how marriage works at all, even if part of the reason you married someone is because they can provide financial stability. Plus, you can want and enjoy voluntarily having sex with your wealthy spouse - and not demand payment for it.

imisscashmere · 23/04/2025 22:41

Rewis · 23/04/2025 22:37

The whole concept of marrying for money is complex. I think quite a few of us marry for money. We look for a partner with a stable income, educated, prospects etc. And we avoid people who are lifestyle unemployed, no money management skills and all that. So I'd say that is kinda marrying for money.

I agree with this.

And if I am totally honest, I probably would not have married my DH if he were poor, or didn’t have his well paid profession, or his family money.

Luigiy · 23/04/2025 22:47

“I wouldn't have married someone who wasn't generous with what he did have.”

This is so important. You can marry a rich man but is he generous as well? I remember dating a man a few years ago who was a business man , had various investments, earned 6 figures etc but he was very miserly - at least with me. Maybe he was waiting to spend it on his dream woman but that clearly wasn’t me!

The first time I came to his house which involved a long-ish flight he didn’t even offer me food. When I mentioned it he dug out some leftovers that didn’t taste good to me. He also didn’t do a lot of the things he promised we’d do while in his city that long weekend, including taking me out for a fancy dinner on at least one night and some touristy stuff. I asked him about it and he got annoyed and basically said was I here to see him or get a tour of his city. I was pretty shocked since he was the one who suggested doing these things initially and also if have a friend over I love taking them out and doing sightseeing etc.
I can see now he just didn’t want to spend money and was grooming /training me
to ask for nothing.

He had asked me to bring something he liked from the country I was traveling from which I did, but yet he had no welcome gift for me. I was expecting maybe a little bunch of flowers or some nice chocolate etc.

I mean we went out to eat twice the 4 days I was there and he paid but each time the waitress asked if we wanted dessert he would quickly say no. Otherwise I just snacked on fruit in his house. He did make a fresh dinner dinner for me once though.

I’d spent literally hundreds between the flights and getting a new dress for the fancy dinner we never went on and his gift and he was giving me the bare minimum.
The whole episode just put me off him entirely and I just couldn’t imagine a happy life with him.

I’d dated men with less than him who were much more generous.

Wouldn’t marry for money personally but nothing against women who do - the only thing I’d say is make sure the man is generous and ready to share - not just rich. And that there are other things you like
about him too.

It’s not different from men - or women for that matter - marrying partners they think are beautiful. They may like other things about the person but attractiveness was still factored in.

I think in your case Op if you have DC under 18 you should be very careful about bringing a man into their lives anytime soon. This man seems a bit closed off which may mean he is just reserved but may also mean you don’t really get to know the true person until it’s too late.

No-one should put themselves in danger but I think you get to be a bit reckless when you don’t have kids. Things are so different when you have kids to consider.

Leafy74 · 23/04/2025 22:48

InterIgnis · 23/04/2025 22:37

Personally, I didn’t date poor men, so the chances of falling in love with one were incredibly low.

So you're only interested in money then?

Krill99 · 23/04/2025 22:49

Would I marry for money? No.

I think a lot of the time people mistake women not wanting to marry unstable men for women marrying for money.

I would happily marry someone as poor as a church mouse if they were decent and we got on. Equally, I wouldn't marry someone wealthy if you paid me if they were unstable and had a lot of dysfunction in their life.

However, in real life, dysfunction and resultant poverty are linked enough of the time to make it seem that women are marrying for money, when in fact they just want to marry someone who is as self sufficient and responsible as they are

Embarrassinglyuseless · 23/04/2025 22:50

Marry for money? No, in that technically we were both earning pittance when we met - I was earning slightly more in fact - we lived on baked potatoes and super noodles the first year!

however he was extremely bright, well educated, financially savvy and hugely motivated. Making money has always been important to him - knowing that it was very likely to make the sort of money that would enable the lifestyle we have now (three children in private school / SAHM life) was definitely a factor in my life choice - I was pretty open about that. He knows that I don’t care about driving a fancy car (I don’t) or appearing flashy. But I have been open from the beginning about the life I hoped for one day.

editing to add - we value each other’s contribution. He married me knowing I was someone who wanted to focus on my family life. We rarely argue about our roles because we’re confident in the space we occupy. He still wakes up with the children at night - I still think about investments + steward our money sensibly.

while I didn’t marry for money - we quite openly both chose a partner who’s life goals aligned with ours. I think that’s the key. I love him, he’s my favourite person + I love that we’ve grown up and worked our life together. I don’t think that needs to be unromantic!

Catsandcannedbeans · 23/04/2025 22:51

My sister did. She’s beautiful and married a short, techy guy who is a millionaire. He’s alright, he’s definitely got a chip on his shoulder about being shot and always makes digs at my DP so I don’t love him. My sister always buys me and DP great Christmas gifts with his money tho, so we put up with him. She is quite isolated because he is honestly socially repulsive and he doesn’t like her going out without him. There’s definitely pros to it, but I cannot imagine having to shag him, not for all the money in the world. He is so used to getting what he wants, he is rude to wait staff, rude to just about everyone. He throws money at any problem. He is also 20 years older than my sister, so hopefully he’ll kick the bucket and she can have a few years living it up.

HarryLimeFoxtrot · 23/04/2025 22:51

No. Although MIL thinks I did. Which is ironic as I out earn DH by a significant amount, and have done for almost 20 years.

MereNoelle · 23/04/2025 22:53

Leafy74 · 23/04/2025 22:48

So you're only interested in money then?

I only ever met men at work, because that’s where I spent the vast majority of my life, so the chance of falling in love with a ‘poor man’ was very slim. Nothing to do with only being interested in money, just that all the men I dated happened to work in the same industry as me, and were therefore fairly wealthy. I didn’t have time to meet ‘a poor man’!

Moneyshmoney · 23/04/2025 22:54

Had it done to me and I’m female. Not madly rich but I had a good job and my house. Worked out after we married why he’d love bombed and begged me to marry him. He walked out of his job, expected to work a few hours a week for barely enough to cover his child support and car payments and thought I’d pay everything else. It was a horrible feeling knowing I’d been used like that. And then it cost me to get rid of the bastard.

Sahlives · 23/04/2025 22:56

I didn’t ’marry for money’ as such. I did want to meet someone who had a decent career and was ambitious. So similar to myself at the time.
My DH is very wealthy now but I didn’t know when we met how successful he would become (he’s overtaken me by a long way).

Luigiy · 23/04/2025 22:57

Leafy74 · 23/04/2025 22:48

So you're only interested in money then?

No, only dating men with money doesn’t mean you’re only interested in money.

Just like the many men only dating women who are conventionally attractive/ they find attractive, doesn’t mean all they’re interested in is looks.

There are of course some men and some women who do date solely based on those attributes and don’t care about character/personality but it’s not the case for everyone.

AngelicKaty · 23/04/2025 22:58

@Quietsurrender No. I could have married for money, but knew it wouldn't be the right thing to do and certainly unfair on the man concerned as he would have always loved me in a way I couldn't love him. I married for love instead - we've made our life (and money) together and are still enjoying a long and happy marriage.

Leafy74 · 23/04/2025 23:01

No, only dating men with money doesn’t mean you’re only interested in money.

You keep telling yourself that love. One day you might believe it.

MereNoelle · 23/04/2025 23:03

Leafy74 · 23/04/2025 23:01

No, only dating men with money doesn’t mean you’re only interested in money.

You keep telling yourself that love. One day you might believe it.

If you only date men you find physically attractive, does that mean you’re only interested in looks?