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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

He isn't skint.

1000 replies

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 09:32

NC for this as personal/outing. Am wondering AIBU? Or WWYD?

Began seeing a local man met on OLD. We matched so perfectly: same age, local, some mutual acquaintances, similar hobbies, outlook, politics, music taste, humour etc. Found him incredibly sexually and emotionally attractive and vice versa.

We became very close and cosy very quickly: daily contact, usually in person, in and out of each others' houses for coffee and a chat, sleeping over at each others houses often, meeting each other's friends and family. Talked loads, for hours, about a wide range of subjects and very frankly. Within weeks we were so close and comfortable with one another it felt like we'd been together for ages.

The only thing that wasn't perfect was that he had no spare spending money. He had gone part time at work to give him the time to renovate his house, singlehandedly, and those renovations also ate up all the money he had left over after paying mortgage and bills. He warned me that, until the house was finished and he returned to full time working, he could not afford to spend much on going out, going away, buying me gifts, unless it was cheap and we split the costs. I am not materialistic so I did not care and to be honest I am a homely person who is more than happy to have dates at each other's houses, cooking each other a meal or watching a film. For Xmas he saw something in a charity shop window which he knew I would love and he even admitted it had cost him only £2 and said he felt guilty and mean and sorry and hoped I would tolerate his being skint until he got back to work and could treat me properly and take me to a swanky restaurant now and again.

Whilst chatting and being in his home whilst things were happening in his daily life he would mention now and again that he was down to his last few pounds, or that the purchase of some essential building materials or an emergency dental problem or vet bill had wiped his bank account. I am not wealthy but I do have a couple of hundred pounds left over every month which I usually just put into a savings account. He never once asked me for money and in fact when I offered to lend him money once or twice he absolutely refused. When I offered to treat him to a fancy meal out or a theatre ticket he also refused, saying that unless he could pay at least his own share, he would not go. I saw these refusals as a confirmation of his honesty and integrity.

One day I was at his house reading the paper after breakfast and he was opposite me on his laptop. As he went to answer the front door I took the dirty plates to the sink and as I turned round to walk back to the table I could not help myself, my eyes were drawn to the screen which had some kind of spreadsheet of figures. I was absolutely staggered to see that he had stocks and shares and an ISA totalling £1.5m. When he came back into the room I just pretended I had not seen anything because I knew I should not have been snooping but I went home and was literally in shock and also really angry that he had been lying to me the whole time.

Next time I stayed at his I deliberately snooped when he was in the shower, and read an open letter about the sale of a flat he owned (which he had never mentioned to me). £250,000 from the sale had been deposited into my boyfriend's bank account about a week before, and yet that very day he had been saying how broke he was.

Am I in the wrong for snooping or is he in the wrong for telling me for a whole year the lie that he is struggling financially from month to month?

What would you do? Confront him and admit you snooped? End it? Tell yourself his finances are none of your business?

OP posts:
coffeesaveslives · 19/10/2024 11:48

Gwenhwyfar · 19/10/2024 11:45

No, they're totally connected. He's pretending to be skint and refusing to do anything that costs any money with his girlfriend, making her life miserable too for no good reason.

Right, but ultimately it's his attitude that's the problem here - even if he was genuinely broke, he doesn't have to bring cartons of Ribena to the theatre or buy seats where you can't see anything. He could just skip that activity and do something decent and within his budget.

OP is free to leave if she's not happy - I would have been gone long ago.

chickennoodless · 19/10/2024 11:48

I’m 50/50 on this one…. Him saying he’s ‘skint’ could mean that his current account is low! He might not actually think of his 1.5 mil stocks and shares as useable money! They might be in his head savings and not money to be used! I have a male friend like this! Constantly moans about having ‘no money’ when in reality he’s squirrelled it all away 🙄

also the sale of the flat that 250k could have been benchmarked for his renovations! Meaning that actually his useable money for treats such as dates and meals out is low!

another point….he could be widely wealthy and have been burned this way before. He might be testing you to see if you really like him for him and not for the money or lifestyle he can provide

IMustDoMoreExercise · 19/10/2024 11:48

But he hasn't been lying to you. He has a set himself a budget for the renovatin and personal expenses and does not want to go over that.

If I was him, I would have done exactly the same if I was that rich. He needs to ensure that you are with him for the right reasons, not for his millions.

He has not taken advantage of you even though he could have done by letting you pay for expensive holidays etc for him.

He seems like a really nice guy.

It is you who is being ridiculous.

AAudreyHorne · 19/10/2024 11:48

I think it's pretty clear that you are going to have to speak to him about this.
You can't continue with the relationship how it's been now you have this new knowledge about his financial situation.

It sounds very much to me that unless he has a good explanation about why he lied about his finances, you won't want to continue to be with him. And if you don't speak to him about what you saw on the screen, it will eat you up and play on your mind so much, it will ruin the relationship anyway.

So bite the bullet and ask him sooner rather than later so that YOU can make a decision about your future.

Also, pulled out his carton of ribena in the cheap seats sounds like a lyric from an Arctic monkeys song!!

Bestyearever2024 · 19/10/2024 11:48

Also (and not wishing to be horrid) but £1.5 mill plus £250 k plus £850 k (Mums house) is nice but it's not VERY wealthy

I think he's bigging his wealth up in his head tbh. Imo he's not rich rich , if you understand me

daisychain01 · 19/10/2024 11:49

KittyGetSmall · 19/10/2024 09:41

Could he be some kind on con artist and leaving his laptop open is the first part of him playing you some way?

You confront him and he says he has xyz but needs to borrow abc to access it?

I have to say I find it really weird that he was working on his stocks and shares spreadsheet at breakfast (!) then got up and left his laptop unlocked. And that he left a letter conveniently opened with the full story about having £250,000 from the sale of a property deposited into his bank account, is that really how this stuff happened?

Flossflower · 19/10/2024 11:49

Is there a possibility these are not his finances, but ones he is managing for his mother or other relative?

Gwenhwyfar · 19/10/2024 11:50

"He has not taken advantage of you even though he could have done by letting you pay for expensive holidays etc for him."

She's had no holidays! She's lived like this for two years, hardly just a 'test'.

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 11:51

I actually now find myself feeling really angry at him.

I accepted him as he was - skint, and with no end date to being skint. I fell in love with him knowing this and have stuck with him nearly two years and intended to carry on. Hoping that maybe one day I would sell my place and move in or he would sell up and move in with me, and with the possiblity that I might have to subsidise him in years to come.

But now he has ruined it. Now I have found he was lying all this time he has put me in an impossible situation.

I cannot go on without telling him that I know because that would be deceitful on my part and I don't want to be in the kind of relationship where we play games and have secrets. And if I do tell him he might hit the roof and dump me for snooping, as though that is a worse offence than his lying all this time!

He's ruined our relationship by leaving his bloody laptop open!!!!

I genuinely wish I had not seen what I have seen because I was perfectly happy with our personal relationship and love being with him. As far as personality goes, you know, just being with someone for hours and hours he is literally my ideal man, we have lots of laughs and learn from one another.

But this is like a massive elephant in the room now.

Oh god what am I going to do???

OP posts:
Gymnopedie · 19/10/2024 11:51

At first I was going with the 'avoiding gold diggers' idea. But from your later posts he's taken it far too far.

You will not and cannot ever look at him the same way so you have nothing to lose by telling him you saw it. He might (it's a long shot) have left the screen open deliberately for you to see and to wait for your reaction. Point out that after 22 months of being with someone who's skint you're still here, and it's not the money it's the constant lying and acting skint behaviour. And you don't like liars.

I would walk. Whatever his reaction to you telling him you know you will never trust him again on anything.

Gwenhwyfar · 19/10/2024 11:51

"then got up and left his laptop unlocked"

Who locks the screen in their own home. That would be even more suspicious.

Bestyearever2024 · 19/10/2024 11:52

daisychain01 · 19/10/2024 11:49

I have to say I find it really weird that he was working on his stocks and shares spreadsheet at breakfast (!) then got up and left his laptop unlocked. And that he left a letter conveniently opened with the full story about having £250,000 from the sale of a property deposited into his bank account, is that really how this stuff happened?

Ooooo good points. I haven't thought about this! Is he a scammer setting the OP up? Why else would he lie about his finances and yet leave them to be viewed?

The drama 😬😬😬

Gwenhwyfar · 19/10/2024 11:52

"Also (and not wishing to be horrid) but £1.5 mill plus £250 k plus £850 k (Mums house) is nice but it's not VERY wealthy"

Maybe not on MN, but in real life, he's a millionnaire and more and embarrassing OP by taking a carton of ribena to the theatre.

Faldodiddledee · 19/10/2024 11:52

Why does everyone keep saying the OP might be a 'gold-digger'? Men can save their vast wealth by not remarrying, it's really simple. She would have no claim on anything of his, for ever!

The OP has her own paid off home with no mortgage, excess money to save, and a lovely generous attitude to her friends. They have mutual acquaintances in common- he can check what type of person she is.

All this 'gold-digger' stuff is often incel male fantasies. Men often blame women for being 'a gold-digger' when they have to pay out to their ex-wife to look after their own children.

She's the opposite of a gold-digger, and the insult is he's treated her as if she is one and made her live a fantasy poverty life that isn't going to end any time soon, all for what?

fruitbrewhaha · 19/10/2024 11:53

He is a liar. He’s misled you into thinking he hasn’t got any ready money to do nice things together when he has. He’s also a massive miser which is really off putting which is why he
has lied about it. You don’t need to spend a fortune on dates but something would be nice and this will be your life together, never travelling, never goi g to things because he can’t spend his money

coffeesaveslives · 19/10/2024 11:53

I accepted him as he was - skint, and with no end date to being skint. I fell in love with him knowing this and have stuck with him nearly two years and intended to carry on. Hoping that maybe one day I would sell my place and move in or he would sell up and move in with me, and with the possiblity that I might have to subsidise him in years to come.

Maybe it's just me, but I genuinely don't understand why you were happy with that. Why would you, as a financially independent woman in her fifities, want to saddle yourself to someone who behaves in the way you describe? A man who smuggles Ribena into the theatre and spends £2 on your Christmas presents?

Being skint doesn't mean you have to be a miser. I hate when people say this on here, but honestly, raise your bar.

MoonWoman69 · 19/10/2024 11:54

I find the fixation on his finances and how he "chooses" to spend, very distasteful. "He bought me a £2 gift from a charity shop, I bought him a £70 odd pound coat" "he has this amount of money, his mother will be leaving him that amount of money". It's absolutely none of your business.
And the snobbery that's coming across about him shopping cheaply! You state that he can afford to spend at "better" shops, but here's the thing, he doesn't actually want to!
And he has never taken up your offers of lending him cash or paying for him, so how is he a con man, as some people are suggesting?! He would have been all over your money and offers, a few months, if not weeks, into your relationship!
My dad was a very wealthy man, every single penny earned by his own hard work and merit. But he was also overly careful with his money, as his upbringing, although very loving, was very frugal. Those were the times he was raised in. Maybe your DP also went through those kind of times. Had you ever considered he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth?
As for someone saying you "accidentally" looked at his open laptop, that's absolute rubbish too. Have we overlooked that when OP was clearing the plates away, she chose to snoop when he went to answer the door, not having had time to close his screen down? Then chose to actively snoop again when he was in the shower! And he's the deceitful one? Seriously?!
I'm really struggling to see your point in all this. You're coming across as very mercenary in every post.
But at least there is a positive in all this. And that is that you do have one thing in common - you both seem to be obsessed with money... His!

Bestyearever2024 · 19/10/2024 11:54

Gwenhwyfar · 19/10/2024 11:52

"Also (and not wishing to be horrid) but £1.5 mill plus £250 k plus £850 k (Mums house) is nice but it's not VERY wealthy"

Maybe not on MN, but in real life, he's a millionnaire and more and embarrassing OP by taking a carton of ribena to the theatre.

I just wonder if he thinks rather a lot of himself and his supposed riches 🙄

MILLYmo0se · 19/10/2024 11:54

I don't know, I mean he is not going to be accessing his stocks and shares account to get him through dinners out for 6 months is he? Presumably that's all tied up and can't be accessed easily or quickly so in practical terms he is living day to day off what he earns in his part-time job.
Honestly, I wouldn't be telling someone I was in a recent relationship with, not living together with or any other long term commitment to than I had lots of money invested. I wouldn't see it as any of their business as long as I pay my own way in the relationship and don't borrow or sponge off them. Whatever about them 'accidentally' seeing my accounts, finding out they purposely engineered searching my home for information about my finances would disgust me and be the immediate end of the relationship.

SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 19/10/2024 11:54

At the very least he is behaving extremely oddly.
In your position I think I would tell him you saw the screen with the 1.5M assets on it and were completely thrown after him saying he's broke. You were thrown to the point that you snooped and saw something about a flat that he'd recently sold.
I'd say that one partner repeatedly and unnecessarily lying and the other snooping is not a solid foundation for a relationship, and what kind of relationship is he hoping to have? Perhaps you can work something out, but trusting won't be easy after this.

IMustDoMoreExercise · 19/10/2024 11:55

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 09:41

You make a good point. I had not thought of that aspect of it before - I mean, that he is a habitual liar by nature. I have been focussing more on just the money. I have not (yet) found out that anything else he has ever told me is a lie.

But he hasn't been lying, he just hasn't told you about his savings (as they are none of your business).

He also did not want you to stay with him because he is rich. He now knows that you are not with him for his money.

He seems like a really decent guy.

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 11:56

daisychain01 · 19/10/2024 11:49

I have to say I find it really weird that he was working on his stocks and shares spreadsheet at breakfast (!) then got up and left his laptop unlocked. And that he left a letter conveniently opened with the full story about having £250,000 from the sale of a property deposited into his bank account, is that really how this stuff happened?

Yes it is. He was expecting a big delivery of house-bricks and was stressed about when they would arrive and the logistics of how they would be unloaded, so when the doorbell rang he just jumped up and answered, forgetting to close the laptop. I was across the other side of the room reading a newspaper so - had he even given it one second's thought - he would have thought it "safe".

I found the letter on his desk in his home-office, where I had gone specifically to snoop. I never go into that room when I visit as there is nothing in there which is my business. So he would not have expected to have to hide anything.

OP posts:
afrikat · 19/10/2024 11:56

Sorry OP I'd cut my losses with this one. I think even without the lying I'd be unwilling to spend potentially 10 years of my life unable to enjoy good food, holidays etc because my partner couldn't afford to do the same things. Add on the lying and I'd be absolutely out of there. Partly because I find being stingy so unattractive but also because he's willingly refusing to have the kind of life with you he could be having for the sake of what? Hoarding money he can't possibly spend all of even if that needs to last his retirement?

I think some people have been misreading your posts - you are not a gold digger expecting him to spend money on you- you want to spend your own money and be able to do stuff with him but he's basically refusing to do that.

I think at this point I'd admit I'd seen his accounts and knew what he had and ask for an explanation about why he's living the way he is. But v few explanations would see me carrying on this relationship

scotstars · 19/10/2024 11:56

Perhaps he's had precious relationships where his partner was more in love with his money and its some kind of odd "test?"
Personally I don't think I could get past the lying so easily to you and the things you have based his integrity on eg not accepting offers to borrow money you know now are because he didn't need them rather than being a decent person.

Bestyearever2024 · 19/10/2024 11:56

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 11:51

I actually now find myself feeling really angry at him.

I accepted him as he was - skint, and with no end date to being skint. I fell in love with him knowing this and have stuck with him nearly two years and intended to carry on. Hoping that maybe one day I would sell my place and move in or he would sell up and move in with me, and with the possiblity that I might have to subsidise him in years to come.

But now he has ruined it. Now I have found he was lying all this time he has put me in an impossible situation.

I cannot go on without telling him that I know because that would be deceitful on my part and I don't want to be in the kind of relationship where we play games and have secrets. And if I do tell him he might hit the roof and dump me for snooping, as though that is a worse offence than his lying all this time!

He's ruined our relationship by leaving his bloody laptop open!!!!

I genuinely wish I had not seen what I have seen because I was perfectly happy with our personal relationship and love being with him. As far as personality goes, you know, just being with someone for hours and hours he is literally my ideal man, we have lots of laughs and learn from one another.

But this is like a massive elephant in the room now.

Oh god what am I going to do???

Talk to him

If he loves you he will understand. He will have a great explanation. All will be well

Anything else and you've dodged a bullet which you had zero clue about

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