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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:
Ihavearedbag · 19/10/2024 11:57

IMustDoMoreExercise · 19/10/2024 11:55

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.

He is managing to save a fortune by making the OP pay for everything! He is the flipping gold digger. Decent guy my arse

LaMarschallin · 19/10/2024 11:57

You say in your OP:

We matched so perfectly: same age, local, some mutual acquaintances, similar hobbies, outlook, politics, music taste, humour etc.

But you obviously don’t match perfectly.
Your outlooks on money and how to use it don’t match at all.
You think he's lied to you because he's given the impression he hasn't a lot of money. Maybe, to his mind, he hasn't.
If that's his pension pot and he's a single man, maybe he worries he'll end up in a nursing home one day and need that money (a friend of ours feels like that).

I do think you were wrong to snoop and I think he must have been a long time answering the door for you to find out so much about the nature of his finances.

I think you should tell him to go off and be happy with his millions by himself. He's saved them and they're his to do what he likes with.

Ohfuckwhatdoidonow · 19/10/2024 11:57

So we've got a few things to piece together, this man has a lot of money in savings, and in his account.
He has probably got to that point by living as tight as he can, he has relative comforts with food, but will cut to the bone with gifts and experiences.
He is also not upfront and honest about what he has, which sadly is a lot of people.
A lot of women on here are married to men and don't know their true financial situation because when it comes to money, people can be sneaky.

I'd feel a little hurt, given that you've offered to merge finances in small ways, oh I have, and can lend/give. When he is more comfortable but saying he cannot afford x/y/z

The only reasonable reason I can see is if he is scared of financial insecurity that'd see him in hardship, but that isn't the case.

In the final few years of my marriage, I always had savings he didn't know about. But more for the fact that he was shocking with money, I was vulnerable just having had a child, and pregnant again when he decided he would just fritter £1000s away. So I had to make sure I'd keep a roof over me and the children's heads and keep us fed....but his situation is like he's being sneaky for the point of being sneaky.

Do you want to find yourself having the cannot afford conversation all the time when you know, he can afford but chooses not to?

chickennoodless · 19/10/2024 11:57

OP just a thought…. He could have hidden it from you in the beginning to protect himself….and now he doesn’t know how to come clean! Maybe he will be relieved you know!

but on the other hand….the tightness I think runs deep! That’s one hell of a frugal lifestyle he has going on! Not sure you’d change that! Can you live with that I think is the question!

MightSoundCrassButItsFactual · 19/10/2024 11:58

How long have you seen each other and is there a label us or just seeing each other

But if he is only into his own money, he cannot be then into any woman as he has proved it without realising.

What do you think can happen to both of you in these circumstances? If you marry him somehow ( I doubt he is looking for this ) you will have all this money upon his death or at least something if you divorce.

Weird

Sparkletastic · 19/10/2024 11:58

He's a stingy liar who hasn't trusted you with the truth for two years. It would be over for me.

FeralNun · 19/10/2024 11:58

I could forgive the keeping his finances to himself, absolutely. Being a bit frugal, ok. Not my bag, but whatever.

But denying himself, and you, who he is supposed to be in love with, everyday affordable pleasures for no good reason at all? Deeply unattractive, and at his age, ingrained.
Imagine the rest of your life missing out on even modest treats due to his Scrooge like tendencies.

thepariscrimefiles · 19/10/2024 11:58

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.

Your bar for 'being a nice guy' is really really low. He has lied to her as he told her he was skint. He bought her a £2 gift from a charity shop for Christmas and told her he felt bad but it was all that he could afford. She bought him a £75 winter coat.

She has been with him for 2 years. Two years of not going out and not having holidays which she totally accepted as she thought that he had no money. At what point will he realise that she is with him for the right reasons?

He wouldn't buy her some Maltesers in the cinema when he has £1.5 million in savings. It's more than not being generous, it's being a miser.

Why would you describe him as a really nice guy? What is nice about his behaviour towards the OP? He is mean, deceitful and doesn't trust her. What qualities are you seeing that I'm not?

Imisscoffee2021 · 19/10/2024 11:58

Tricky one in that he might have been burned before by a relationship built on his wealth alone. And wants to build this one on a true connection, however it has slipped into a deep level of lies, he could have just said he had some savings to see him through renovations and not made this elaborate subterfuge. Its hard to confront him to have the necessary chat without revealing you snooped or glanced at his laptop.

burnoutbabe · 19/10/2024 12:00

After your final post about his way of working I have changed my mind.

Working part time but doing it every day with 1 hour each way so you are too tired to do any work on your house is just daft/stupid.

He would be better off working full time and paying someone else.

(I work part time but it's work from home plus it's just a full day so leaves other days clear)

He sounds very odd and no plan to actually do this house (if it's been 3 years)

So I'd dump him but for this rather than him having money in the bank (and no one should count on inheritance from parents, they could need care or marry again!)

Gettingbysomehow · 19/10/2024 12:00

I don't have relationships with liars. If I can help it. That would be the end for me.

Sunshine1500 · 19/10/2024 12:00

His financial situation isn’t your business you really shouldn’t have looked and it shouldn’t affect your relationship, however, Spending £2 on your Christmas presents isn’t just being frugal it’s mean and unkind.

you should speak to him and say you want a nice Christmas this year where you both can treat yourself and enjoy some luxuries. nothing extravagant, but not £2!
see how this year goes and if he’s willing to compromise and spend some money on something that makes you happy, great, if not he’s being mean and unkind not wanting to treat you occasionally.

Zebedee999 · 19/10/2024 12:02

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 I see this completely differently from others here. Many men are worried that if a woman knows he has money then that will change who she is and how she behaves with him. Some men prefer to (at the outset) show themselves as poor/humble until the relationship is stable then explain about their money.

On the other hand he may be incredibly tight!

IMustDoMoreExercise · 19/10/2024 12:02

Ihavearedbag · 19/10/2024 11:57

He is managing to save a fortune by making the OP pay for everything! He is the flipping gold digger. Decent guy my arse

But she isn't paying for anything herself, they always split everything.

He could have taken advantage but he did not.

He is a saver not a spender, which is how he managed to save up so much money.

Sunshine1500 · 19/10/2024 12:03

Also lying and expecting you to subside him is just awful

SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 19/10/2024 12:03

IMustDoMoreExercise · 19/10/2024 11:55

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.

Hang on - he has been lying, hasn't he? Saying that he can't afford to go out to dinner or buy materials for his renovation when he has assets over a million is lying. He could have said 'I have money but it's all tied up at the moment' which is very different, and also pretty unlikely. Who would tie up literally all of their assets? Anyway we know he hasn't, because he has 250K in cash in the bank, from the house sale!

MILLYmo0se · 19/10/2024 12:05

Sunshine1500 · 19/10/2024 12:03

Also lying and expecting you to subside him is just awful

How has he expected her to subsidise him? He pays his share and refuses any offer of a loan

FetchezLaVache · 19/10/2024 12:05

I think there are two issues.

  1. living a ridiculously frugal lifestyle when he doesn't need to. I started off thinking he had quite reasonably decided to live on his part-time earnings without dipping into his savings, but things like the £2 Christmas present and smuggling Ribena into the theatre suggest that he's actually pathologically stingy. Life's too short to live like that, particularly when you have substantial savings you could dip into without making a dent;

  2. lying to OP about his wealth (with apologies to anyone who doesn't think £1.5m constitutes wealth). The most generous explanation is that he was initially protecting himself from gold-diggers, fell in love with OP and doesn't know how to come clean. But clearly, the lying by omission is a huge deal to OP and only she can know whether the relationship can survive.

I do think you have to tell him you know, see what he has to say for himself and decide on that basis whether you should throw this one back.

IMustDoMoreExercise · 19/10/2024 12:06

thepariscrimefiles · 19/10/2024 11:58

Your bar for 'being a nice guy' is really really low. He has lied to her as he told her he was skint. He bought her a £2 gift from a charity shop for Christmas and told her he felt bad but it was all that he could afford. She bought him a £75 winter coat.

She has been with him for 2 years. Two years of not going out and not having holidays which she totally accepted as she thought that he had no money. At what point will he realise that she is with him for the right reasons?

He wouldn't buy her some Maltesers in the cinema when he has £1.5 million in savings. It's more than not being generous, it's being a miser.

Why would you describe him as a really nice guy? What is nice about his behaviour towards the OP? He is mean, deceitful and doesn't trust her. What qualities are you seeing that I'm not?

She could have bought him a £2 gift, it was her choice to spend £75.

2 years in a relationship is nothing. It is the honeymoon period.

If I had £1.5m , there is no way I would tell anyone either.

The OP is being ridiculous and if she ends it, she will be the loser.

GivingitToGod · 19/10/2024 12:07

Spot on. He wasn't just not talking about money, he was constantly going on as to how skint he was. Maybe he's had his fingers burnt in the past but that is no reason to blatantly lie. Unfortunately, this has ruined the foundation and trust of your relationship and IMO, it's best to say goodbye.
PS, I don't blame u for 'snooping'

SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 19/10/2024 12:07

Sadly another explanation is that he's a con artist, leaving around a fake website page and a forged letter saying that money has just been deposited in the bank so that you believe he's rich and are willing to (eg) commit to buying a new house with him or invest in some dodgy scheme. Do be careful, OP. Those two items were extremely easy to find!

IMustDoMoreExercise · 19/10/2024 12:08

SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 19/10/2024 12:03

Hang on - he has been lying, hasn't he? Saying that he can't afford to go out to dinner or buy materials for his renovation when he has assets over a million is lying. He could have said 'I have money but it's all tied up at the moment' which is very different, and also pretty unlikely. Who would tie up literally all of their assets? Anyway we know he hasn't, because he has 250K in cash in the bank, from the house sale!

Edited

But if he had said "I have the money but it is tied up" then he would have been lying.

He has set himself a budget as as far as he is concerned, he cannot spend anymore than that.

What is wrong with that? A lot of people do it and that is how they become rich.

Gymnopedie · 19/10/2024 12:09

IMustDoMoreExercise · 19/10/2024 11:55

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.

He has lied.

From the OP:

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.

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,

If he has that much, whatever form it's in, they were lies. Not lies by omission but by commission.

SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 19/10/2024 12:09

IMustDoMoreExercise · 19/10/2024 12:08

But if he had said "I have the money but it is tied up" then he would have been lying.

He has set himself a budget as as far as he is concerned, he cannot spend anymore than that.

What is wrong with that? A lot of people do it and that is how they become rich.

He hasn't said 'I have a budget', he's said he can't afford to pay for a meal out occasionally. It's not the same thing.

Livinghappy · 19/10/2024 12:10

What's his relationship history? I imagine other women would have got tired of his tightness.

You mention he is an self employed IT consultant. If, so I doubt he is only earning 56k p.a.. given his previous lies about having no money it possible that isn't the true.

If he wants to be super frugal in his life, it's his choice, however he has forced that lifestyle onto the Op. She accepted it based on current circumstances when it fact it was lies.

Op, he is unlikely to change as he seems to genuinely believe he has no money or quite enjoys this level of financial discipline.

I don't know if I could stay or commit to someone like this as there is no joy in hoarding money, for the sake of it.

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