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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:
Harvestfestivalknickers · 19/10/2024 10:01

What it boils down to is - are you happy to continue this relationship with him not having any 'liquid' money? Are you happy with £2 charity shop presents and nights in but no trips to the theatre?
If you know things are going to change - fine. If he knows that the renovations will finish by x date next year and he's increasing his hours to full time - fine. But if it's all a bit vague and woolly and you don't see a date by which he can spend a bit - is this really the relationship for you?

roses2 · 19/10/2024 10:04

I have no issue with snooping although most mumsnetters disagree. It’s good you found out otherwise you’d be none the wiser.

But I’d still run a mile if he has £1.5m in savings and £250k in cash from a recent house sale. Life is for living and all he wants is home cooked meals. Not even a take away. Does he buy the good quality supermarket food or the budget low quality food?

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 10:05

@oviraptor21

Does he say he is struggling - or does he say things are a bit tight? The latter, no problem; the former, not in the strictest sense true although according to his self- made rules, maybe so.

He says he has no SPARE money for luxuries after paying out for all the things he needs to rebuild the house, his bills, mortgage and food (he shops at Lidl and buys all his clothes in charity shops).

I feel particularly foolish because I have an ISA as well, with about 1/10th of what he has in his, yet I have been offering to pay for outings and even lend him cash.

OP posts:
MugPlate · 19/10/2024 10:05

Anyone saying “I’m poor” while sitting on 1.5mil or a 250k flat sale is a liar. He could just as easily have said “I prefer to live a simple life and get enjoyment from spending less, planning for my future.” Or “I’m not comfortable discussing finances so early.”
Making a song and dance about the £2 present is deliberately misleading.
What I find fascinating is how many posters are either fine with you being misled or fine with doing the misleading.

baileys6904 · 19/10/2024 10:06

If this were a man posting, you'd have your backside served to you on a plate.

His finances are nothing to do with you. You're not in a cohabiting relationship, in fact it sounds like a matter of months. If I had 1.5 mill sat in an account, I wouldnt tell a dating partner either.

TwistedWonder · 19/10/2024 10:06

Completelyjo · 19/10/2024 09:59

I don’t think any normal mildly financially aware person counts pension savings as their normal money. He has a generous long term savings account for when he retires in the not too distant future at the he doesn’t plan on dipping into those savings to fund his daily life while he works part time to renovate his house. Sounds completely reasonable.

If that doesn’t interest you from a partner then it’s your prerogative to find someone else.

Agree with this. In his 50’s he’s seeing his investments as his future pension plan and not seeing those funds as disposable income.

Hes not asked the OP to bankroll him and he’s living within his current means to avoid dipping into his investments.

I’ve got the proceeds of my house sale sitting in a high interest account and I’m not touching those funds. I live on my salary and I wouldn’t expect anyone I date to consider me a liar because I haven’t told them I have investments that I’ve saved for my retirement plans.

And sorry OP but no good can come of snooping and confronting him. If it’s not for then end it but he’s not asked you to support him.

Personally I wouldn’t be interested in pursuing a relationship with someone who didn’t splash out now and again but equally I wouldn’t expect anyone to dip into their savings for day to day life either.

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 10:07

@roses2

Does he buy the good quality supermarket food or the budget low quality food?

He always has nice food in the fridge and cooks me wonderful full English breakfasts, steak, salmon etc but it is all from Lidl. He always has crisps, nuts, and chocolate in the house but again Lidl's own not the top brands.

OP posts:
bifurCAT · 19/10/2024 10:08

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 09:57

I'm afraid not. I have exactly the same type of account and you can withdraw any time you like, takes 3 or 4 days to come through. Also money from the sale of the flat was in his bank account.

If that's true, then I stand by my point. I'd probably do exactly what he's doing.

If this were 'me', I'd feign poverty for a while and see if you stick around. Many women (as proven by MN) wouldn't even give him a first date, and especially a second one if they they were taken somewhere average, or asked to split the bill.

Then I'd trickle out some money, "my house sale came through", "my shares vested", and see if your attitude changed.

OR, he could have left the laptop open for you to find! Some people would take that as a 'I need to dig my claws in' sort of thing, to make you jump onto bed quicker.

Third option (just thinking out loud), do you know for sure these were legit? Him rocking up in a 20 year old Ford wouldn't scream out rich, even if he told you he was, bit it would be easy to fake a spreadsheet and cut and paste a few numbers into a banking screenshot.

roses2 · 19/10/2024 10:09

I am a high earner and shop and Aldi and from charity shops / Vinted. I rarely buy new clothes. Nothing wrong with a high earner doing that. However I do spend on treats, holidays, meals out.

The red flag here is this man spends nothing other than the bare minimum. And if you have a future life with him this is how it will be.

Completelyjo · 19/10/2024 10:09

You are just a dating partner, you don’t even live together. Personally I don’t think my long term investments or savings are the business of a boyfriend.

DancefloorAcrobatics · 19/10/2024 10:12

I'd confront him if, you are prepared to end the relationship.

I'd tell him about the laptop thing, as clearly it wasn't snooping as such.
Tell him that you don't do lying when it comes to relationships. Ask him if there is anything else you should know about (thinking of flat sale).
See what he comes up with and go from there.

Sometimes admitting to having lots of money on paper or otherwise can lead to problems anf high expectations. Maybe he's comfortable with the simplicity of the relationship, question is would you be long term?

Crikeyalmighty · 19/10/2024 10:12

I think it's his way of seeing if someone really likes him or if they like the idea he's wealthy- I suspect my H might do something similar, not cash in our case but more likely around his job - which I know others would find attractive to be around

personally I would be really factual and have a heart to heart- I would tell him you like him a lot but you don't much like being told blatant untruths and just say you saw that screen by chance. I wouldn't cut off your nose to spite your face if you do like him- I would however get it out in the open -

DevilgateDriver · 19/10/2024 10:13

I think other posters are right, he's probably being cautious after bad past experiences with other women who were mostly interested in his money. It sounds like you really like him and I wouldn't throw away what sounds like a nice relationship over this.

I don't know if it really counts as a "lie" as such as you're not living together, don't have joint finances etc. I don't share my financial info with my best friends and I don't know theirs either! I don't even know my siblings financial status.

if you give it more time you may find he relaxes into doing more fancy things (meals out, theatre etc). Or maybe he doesn't like doing those things and this is his way of getting out of it?

I wouldn't mention anything you've snooped on at all, unless you want him to break up with you. Imagine how you'd feel if he'd checked your bank or medical info!

Crikeyalmighty · 19/10/2024 10:14

It's all very well people saying his finances are nothing to do with you- on one hand no they aren't- on the other hand if you yourself are making day to day lifestyle choices on where you go, what you do based on the fact he's 'skint' then in my opinion - yes they are!

Fiestytiger · 19/10/2024 10:15

If I had that kind of money I probably wouldn’t tell anyone either. Maybe by being tight he has got rich. But buying you a £2 Christmas present is something else. Plus he has lied. I think he’s testing you op. Maybe he wants you to love him for who he is not his money. I’d have to tell him I saw the screen and have an honest conversation. I would also see if he brings up the house sale. Maybe he is being ultra careful but he seems to be on another level of tight.

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 10:15

@AmICrazyToEvenBother

The money invested is probably not accessible though at this moment in time?

ME: I have the same sort of accounts as him and the money is accessible in 3 days. Money from his ISA can be withdrawn at any time as he is over 55.

AmIcrazy: As for the sale money, you also have no idea whether that money is earmarked elsewhere.

ME: Well he still could have told me. He could have said "I have £25k coming but it's to build the lofto conversion" or whatever.

AmIcrazy: Whether him not telling you about it is an issue depends partly on how long you've been together - you dont actually say, but it all sounds a bit whirlwind, I dont blame him for exercising caution on financial matters.

Me: It will be 2 years in January but it feels longer because it has not been occasional formal dates but spending many hours together in each others' houses and sleeping over once or twice a week, lots of long heart-to-heart talks etc.

OP posts:
Doggymummar · 19/10/2024 10:16

I think it's lovely actually. He has been sounding you out, making sure you are with him for the right reasons and not a gold digger. I like it.

OnaBegonia · 19/10/2024 10:17

He has consistently limited your social life by declaring he can't afford to go halves on nights out etc, £2 xmas present, he's made an effort to lie and deceive you, I'd confront him and ask why he's deliberately lied.

Completelyjo · 19/10/2024 10:20

Crikeyalmighty · 19/10/2024 10:14

It's all very well people saying his finances are nothing to do with you- on one hand no they aren't- on the other hand if you yourself are making day to day lifestyle choices on where you go, what you do based on the fact he's 'skint' then in my opinion - yes they are!

But he was upfront about that? He made it clear to the start to OP that when he went part time in work to have free time to renovate his house and he wouldn’t be living a lavish lifestyle during their time.
Whether or not he has investments isn’t even relevant because either way he made it clear what his spending would be like. He never took money from the OP or accepted her paying for anything.
If wasn’t happy with a partner who didn’t spend on holidays or meals out during a period of reduced income then she was free to leave from the start. He hasn’t tricked her.

FictionalCharacter · 19/10/2024 10:20

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.

Lying about being broke when he's actually wealthy is enough of a lie. And these are multiple, elaborate lies - stories he's made up to make you think he has no money. Plus the extreme stinginess. Just horrible.

Oldraver · 19/10/2024 10:21

If you haven't already I would book those theatre nights just for you. His reaction should be revealing

Piggled · 19/10/2024 10:22

This isn’t about testing the water to see if you’re a gold digger. He doesn’t need to show you his accounts but he also doesn’t need to actively lie.

he has. And you feel stupid as a result. I would end it.

SweetSakura · 19/10/2024 10:25

He's a liar and a miser.
I would walk away and not look back.

CaptainCabinetsTrappedInCabinets · 19/10/2024 10:26

I don't think he sees your relationship as serious as you seem too.

You dont live together
You have no joint financial responsibilities
He was upfront about his views on spending
He always pays his way and refuses any subbing you offer.

I really don't see how he is taking the piss in any way, shape or form.

His finances are none of your business.

You need to decide if you see this relationship going long term/moving in together and if so have this conversation. Not a money conversation.

If you decide to take the next step THEN there's a money conversation.

You seem very preoccupied with money. The £2 gift you admitted he knew you would love. What does it matter way he spent?

MoonWoman69 · 19/10/2024 10:26

Silvertulips · 19/10/2024 09:41

So he’s a saver? Hes never asked you for money and refuses to let you help -

You are dating not married.

You get on and don’t share finances. He works part time and does his own renovations.

Im not sure what you are asking here?

Are you looking for marridge?

Exactly this! I was going to add something similar!

OP - You are being totally unreasonable here. You are neither married nor live together. He is investing in his home to make it right for his future. So, he has bonds and an ISA, which are probably locked for a period of time. And snooping is never good, it's a nasty trick. And especially so when it comes to money.
To me he sounds savvy with his money, making sure he has provided for himself. I can't believe the people on here calling him a liar! It's his money!!!
You are dating. You have no right to know about his financial situation at all. Does he know about yours? And why do you feel he should be spending his money on you? Showering you with gifts and fancy meals? You say you're not materialistic, yet that's how you're coming across! It's ok for you to save, but not him?!
He's clearly set that money aside to get things done. That's not lying or being sneaky. No, he probably doesn't have much free cash to hand, to spend on a day to day basis, because it sounds like he's saving all he can for renovations.
And I'd be perfectly happy doing what you've been doing. Meals in and so forth. I'd also be over the moon to be given a gift from a charity shop, because he knew I'd like it.
If you're not happy that he's not lavishing you with fancy things, then that's down to you! And it would probably be an idea to find someone more suited to you and your requirements from a relationship.

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