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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Are those type of money chats strange?

185 replies

Furla22 · 13/10/2022 17:23

Please be gentle. I am a late 40s childless woman in a relationship with a man in his early 60s, he has adult children and young grandchildren. He has his property and planning to retire soon. I am happy in my job and work partly abroad. Due to my family arrangements (long story) I bought a large apartment cash and will be soon renovating. I also have other properties. We are not married. DP would like to get married. I don't. My DP is not happy that we keep our finances separate apart from household expenses. He often asks what my plans are with my other properties etc. We live together in a rental - (long story) it is due to work distance and convenience, all outcomes of covid. The apartment I bought I will be refurbishing from my own and my family money, it is in my name only. He wants to contribute to refurbishing (despite not planning to live there). DP also wants us to get back to his house. I don't, because it is his ex marital home, not much has changed there since his divorce over nearly 18 years . I do not feel I need to live there.
I also have an elderly mother (I am the only child) who has a comfortable place and I plan to look after her on a more structured basis. Cutting story short, I do not understand why my DP gets so angry at our finances being separate? Why does he want to contribute to a refurbishment of a property where his name is not on the deeds? Why does he push for marriage his age? There is a lot of 'money chats' around what my plans are. In all honesty I do not have many money plans as I still feel young and with time to make those decisions. DP gets very animated I do not want to consolidate any assets with him etc. Surely he should be happy I am not with him for money (his house/ pension) and take comfort from that rather than getting upset. I welcome your thoughts.

OP posts:
senior30 · 25/11/2022 13:07

He wants to pay in to the renovations of your flat so that should you split he has a claim to the property. Run for the hills OP, he’s being very clever.

blueshoes · 25/11/2022 13:14

OP, is the reason you are not throwing this one back into the sea and keep asking the same questions because you thought you caught a big fish (high earner) but he does not behave like a high earner and you don't understand why but still not prepared to give this one up?

I am afraid he is never going to be the fish you thought you caught. He is probably wondering why you are still hanging around. He found his victim.

mewkins · 25/11/2022 13:30

OP, from everything you've said it simply sounds like you know all his faults and know you're not compatible but are scared of being alone. Am I right? Don't focus on whether you will ever find anyone else etc. Focus on the actions you need to take to be happier. You will be better off being away from this man. Being on your own isn't so bad and it may well give you the space you need to gain some perspective. You don't have to be with someone because they want to be with you. You don't need permission to leave a relationship. You don't need a list of good reasons to leave a relationship. You are in control of your own actions and can do exactly what is best for you.

Doornish · 25/11/2022 13:59

This “situationship” (because I don’t think it even sounds like a basic, compatible, mutually respectful friendship - never mind relationship) is stifling.

Neither of you are getting want you want out of it today and your visions of the future are divergent.

Why all the questions about understanding or speculating on his motivations?

What will it matter when you find out an “answer” that suits your “hunch” - is that what you need to motivate you to finally leave? Or justify your decision? Do you need permission from random strangers on in the internet to attend to the real feelings in your gut?

Why not just cut to the chase?

If you are confused, suspicious, resistant etc - it means you don’t trust - simple - no trust no relationship.

You don’t need concrete proof for your lack of trust (ie uncovering a will or financial plan to extort you) - you already have your gut.

There is nothing in this situationship of any value - no respect, no fun, no aspirations, no sex - only negativity.

Get some professional help to understand why you are stuck with this character when you and everyone else can see that he doesn’t and didn’t meet your needs (financial, emotional, maternal, aspirational, lifestyle) in any way, shape or form.

What’s your relationship history?

Furla22 · 25/11/2022 14:00

blueshoes · 25/11/2022 13:14

OP, is the reason you are not throwing this one back into the sea and keep asking the same questions because you thought you caught a big fish (high earner) but he does not behave like a high earner and you don't understand why but still not prepared to give this one up?

I am afraid he is never going to be the fish you thought you caught. He is probably wondering why you are still hanging around. He found his victim.

when we met he was unemployed

OP posts:
Alcemeg · 25/11/2022 14:51

Do you girls think mid 40s is young?
I feel so old inside.

Yes, mid 40s is when my life started (once I left the killjoy marriage that sounds a bit like your situation).

Soundofthecrowd · 25/11/2022 15:26

If cash flow is holding you back from leaving it would be better to sell one of your properties if you have several and move into one of the others. Please do it and find joy in life again.

forrestgreen · 25/11/2022 15:37

If you were my sister/friend I'd be infuriated about how we've had this discussion and you've said what a waste this is and how you don't see a future, and you're still there, saying the same things, with no plans to end it or leave.
Sorry

FrizzledFrazzle · 25/11/2022 16:17

@Furla22 I agree with other posters that this relationship is not the one for you. As someone who has been in a similar situation, although at a younger age, I also empathize with how you are hesitating so much about ending it and why you want to understand so much about your partner's motivation for his behaviour.

I was in a relationship with someone who was quite controlling. But the relationship didn't start out like that. So I had a mental/emotional model of my partner as thoughtful, kind, understanding and generally acting in my best interests. And every interaction we had I would try to fit it into that mental model. So if he was cross and snappy, or cold, or unkind it must be because he was stressed, or I was rude/nasty/stupid (like he said), or I had touched on something that was a sensitive topic for him. Like building a Lego model and having a few odd bits left over that didn't really fit anywhere. But I would bodge them on somewhere and come up with convoluted explanations of why someone who cared about me would behave like such a jerk towards me.

Over time, those bits that didn't fit built up. But because our understanding of people we know we'll don't usually change massively, I kept trying to fit them together with the model I already had. It took an overwhelming amount of evidence for me to finally abandon my old model and acknowledge that the only way to make all those odd (but increasingly frequent) incidents fit was to have an entirely different picture of my partner as controlling, manipulative and unkind.

Could something similar be happening for you? So far, you have been able to rationalize the odd, difficult things about your partner in a way that fit with seeing him as a net good in your life - he didn't want a baby with you because it wasn't the right time, he wants a house together to build a future with you etc. But now there is just too much stuff to explain away. Which leaves you looking at a selfish man trying to feather his own nest and set himself up for an easy retirement at your (financial, emotional and social) expense?

Alcemeg · 25/11/2022 21:26

Alcemeg · 25/11/2022 14:51

Do you girls think mid 40s is young?
I feel so old inside.

Yes, mid 40s is when my life started (once I left the killjoy marriage that sounds a bit like your situation).

P.S. that was 20 years ago.

Where do you want to be in 20 years' time?

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