Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

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:
BustingBaoBun · 19/10/2024 15:05

bergamotorange · 19/10/2024 15:02

He has constucted an elaborate lie. He doesn't have to tell you how much money he has, but he actually went out of his way to pretend he was skint. He's lied a lot of times.

End the relationship.

Don't bother telling him why, just say you don't think it is working out.

I agree. He could've been slightly frugal or careful with money but being normal with it. A nice birthday present costing £50 or whatever, a bunch of flowers occasionally, going out for a meal or the cinema, but he has deliberately led the OP to believe he barely has two pennies to rub together.
I could never feel the same about him again. And all those who say the OP should not have looked at the laptop... you wouldn't... ok... yeah rightio....

Goblinspy · 19/10/2024 15:06

AnneKipankitoo · 19/10/2024 14:51

Just end it.

Agree with above.
I have a family member with savings ( not as much) but once it’s in savings account it’s not to be spent or available.
You probably think he is depriving himself but he isn’t. He probably likes or doesn’t care about buying new and food from Lidl is completely fine!
And charity shops are there to make money for their charity not cheap clothes for poor people (otherwise they would be cheaper).

YellowphantGrey · 19/10/2024 15:07

StewartGriffin · 19/10/2024 14:41

"But if a gift has been given because he knew the OP would like it, and she did, why does it matter if it cost £2 or £200?

Surely the thought and intention counts and not the cost?"

@YellowphantGrey don't be ridiculous. He has been training the OP from the beginning to not expect anything from him, and he'll have found something at the charity shop that suits him to buy and badged it as being thoughtful because he thought she'd like it. I like crisps but I'd be furious if my partner bought me a £2 multipack of crisps for my birthday because she knows I like crisps. Can you genuinely not see the issue?

The point j was trying to make,as you full well know, that if he saw it, knew she would like it, why does the cost matter?

If you wanted a book and your partner saw it on a charity shop for £2, would you be furious because he didn't buy the same book from Waterstones at £22?

And switch the situation round, if her partner had gone snooping through her finances then come on here wanting to know how he could get her to spend more, you would tell her to ditch him?

What's the difference? Their finances are seperate and they don't live together. OP is free to decide if she wants to carry on, ask him or finish it

BustingBaoBun · 19/10/2024 15:11

If I had managed to pick up something ideal for my DH for just £2 in a charity shop, I would give it to him, alongside something else

Thindog · 19/10/2024 15:13

Ask him directly about his finances.Then ask him why he is so tight.
Also be aware some romance scams begin like this.His money is locked up and he needs to borrow a few thousand….

PorridgeEater · 19/10/2024 15:18

pikkumyy77 · 19/10/2024 14:49

Why are women castigated for the sin of materialism when its just accepted that men will only pursue women of exceptional hotness, sexuality (or chastity) who can give them children and have big earning potential? Men definitely have standards for dating, why can’t women?

Sorry but I'm intrigued - are there many men who pursue women for chastity?

MillyVannily · 19/10/2024 15:18

Dear me!!! You are awfully judgemental!

You have no idea what debt he has, what pension plan, etc.

You also have no idea where these money came from, nor their purpose.

Calm down a bit. You have no information apart from your blatant snooping. There can be very valid reasons he feels skint even though he does seem to have money.

Evaluating and counting his mothers house is just dreadful.

I dated my husband for 10 years and he had no clue what money I have ... we weren't married, didn't have kids ... why would he care???

Just ask him and have a discussion, don't just wind yourself up because you have seen some papers and came up with your own theories.

pikkumyy77 · 19/10/2024 15:19

OP this is dreadful and you must feel terrible. I don’t think there is any way to resume the relationship comfortably. Implicitly you were assuming that he had the same values you do with respect to future issues: travel, theater, socializing, entertainment. You were’nt looking for the high life. But you were planning to enjoy the fruits of your labours. And you thought he wanted this too but was deferring until later.

Now you have discovered that his real focus snd fetish is being stingy with himself and with you. The pleasure, for him, comes in cheating the costs and adding to his bank account whether he injures himself doing work he doesn’t know how to do or wastes time/loses income reducing work hours rather than pay for skilled labour.

Financially his decision to go part time and lose income in order to try to learn the trades and be his own contractor is the literal definition of penny wise and pound foolish. But its his fetish and a source of pleasure to him. He will never change. The right woman for him is exactly you but also incredibly stingy. Although he might not like it if you reduced your gift to him to a tatty sweater at a charity shop.

Maurepas · 19/10/2024 15:19

Not read all PPs but I draw your attention to fact he is an ''only child''. They can behave rather differently in subtle ways from people who have not been ''only children''. That may be partly the cause of his behaviour. They can be very self centred. He wants to be loved but only for himself, not for his money and the money is only for him alone now and always only his - and there may be probably other complex reasons he hides it. But I am not a psychologist tho' have known 3 ''only childs'' very well! Also he may not have access to it if it is part of a pension plan or if tied up any other way. He may also have some plan for it to reach a certain amount before it can be touched or he wants to touch it, so has put it out of bounds. But he is certainly odd.

pikkumyy77 · 19/10/2024 15:20

PorridgeEater · 19/10/2024 15:18

Sorry but I'm intrigued - are there many men who pursue women for chastity?

Yes—women are pursued as virgin brides and killed for their perceived lack of chastity every day.

BunnyLake · 19/10/2024 15:21

FictionalCharacter · 19/10/2024 14:28

A wealthy person doesn't have to tell a new date they're wealthy. But he went much further, going on about being broke and making up stories about a vet bill wiped out his bank account. That's lying. He could have just said nothing about his finances, acted like a normal person and bought modest but normal presents.
Not telling someone about your wealth is fine. Telling absurd, unnecessary lies to justify your stinginess is not.

It was the going on about it that seems odd to me.

Wanttobefree2 · 19/10/2024 15:22

I feel for you, especially if you’ve had lots of heart to heart conversations with him. I would feel pretty upset if he hadn’t been truthful. You may as well come clean, maybe he’s got a really good excuse but I’d be pretty annoyed if I were you, especially about my $2 Christmas present!

The13thFairy · 19/10/2024 15:22

'Snooping' is a really emotive word ~ you could think of it as 'researching'.

Thereislightattheendofthetunnel · 19/10/2024 15:22

Is he putting you through some sort of test to see if you are with him for love instead of money?

Otherwise I am lost for words…

PorridgeEater · 19/10/2024 15:24

pikkumyy77 · 19/10/2024 15:20

Yes—women are pursued as virgin brides and killed for their perceived lack of chastity every day.

Now I realise I've heard of this happening - perhaps in certain cultures - so sad.

GreekDogRescue · 19/10/2024 15:25

God OP that’s appalling.
Its on a level of finding out he has a secret girlfriend or something.
Nothing worse than a stingy bloke. If he’s tight with money he’ll be tight about other things.

YourFunMember · 19/10/2024 15:27

Maybe he’s had problems with gold diggers in the past.

burnoutbabe · 19/10/2024 15:27

I would have ever assumed that someone with a fairly large house who had gone part time to do work on their house was actually skint skint.

Just that they had prioritised their current spare money/time/energy into this project.

If that wasn't how I wanted to live /date I'd just leave him alone, not date him for 3 years waiting for some imaginary future where he suddenly starts spending money on loads of stuff.

GreekDogRescue · 19/10/2024 15:28

MillyVannily · 19/10/2024 15:18

Dear me!!! You are awfully judgemental!

You have no idea what debt he has, what pension plan, etc.

You also have no idea where these money came from, nor their purpose.

Calm down a bit. You have no information apart from your blatant snooping. There can be very valid reasons he feels skint even though he does seem to have money.

Evaluating and counting his mothers house is just dreadful.

I dated my husband for 10 years and he had no clue what money I have ... we weren't married, didn't have kids ... why would he care???

Just ask him and have a discussion, don't just wind yourself up because you have seen some papers and came up with your own theories.

Do you take single cartons of Rivena to drink in the interval as well?
Good grief there are some right stingy types on here!

Jammedchakra · 19/10/2024 15:28

YellowphantGrey · 19/10/2024 14:25

But if a gift has been given because he knew the OP would like it, and she did, why does it matter if it cost £2 or £200?

Surely the thought and intention counts and not the cost?

They split everything 50/50 and OP says herself she was happy until she snooped and went through his finances

Money changed how she felt towards him, maybe that's why he didn't tell her?

She said she was happy and also looking to the future where funds would be better. He has misled her. Funds are available, but he grandstands that they are not.

As for a £2 gift. No it matters not, not really, but he apologised about it so he knew it was the expected social norm.

Come on, he was deliberately misleading her. What he had saved is irrelevant, it’s the pleading poverty and stingy behaviour. No one saying roll out the Rolex, but perhaps a meal out or trips that the OP wants to be part of her life. The amount he has is a red herring, it was the presentation of his circumstances that’s the issue.

burnoutbabe · 19/10/2024 15:32

I have taken small cartons of juice or water in my bag to drink during various shows. As it fits easily in handbag over a large 500ml bottle.

And I get dry mouth during stuff/hot flushes and want something to sip when on tube etc

Is it okay if it's oasis over Ribena ?

I do ask partner if he wants a drink too but he always fancies wine so buys at the bar. I just want something to relieve dry mouth so water is fine and I don't want to pay £5 for a water bottle at these events.

YellowphantGrey · 19/10/2024 15:32

Jammedchakra · 19/10/2024 15:28

She said she was happy and also looking to the future where funds would be better. He has misled her. Funds are available, but he grandstands that they are not.

As for a £2 gift. No it matters not, not really, but he apologised about it so he knew it was the expected social norm.

Come on, he was deliberately misleading her. What he had saved is irrelevant, it’s the pleading poverty and stingy behaviour. No one saying roll out the Rolex, but perhaps a meal out or trips that the OP wants to be part of her life. The amount he has is a red herring, it was the presentation of his circumstances that’s the issue.

But she hasn't behaved well either. By going through the laptop and then on another occasion, going through his post.

I'd say any trust has gone so little point to to the relationship

wowzelcat · 19/10/2024 15:32

You’ve dated 2 years…that is a good while. This business about ‘testing you’ is silly because you have your own means/income. Insisting you pay your own movie ticket and not buying you a drink once in a while, or a meal at the pub, or taking you away for the weekend is ridiculous, even if money is tight. How long are you supposed to wait…10 years whilst he finishes his house? He’s getting nice company for zero investment, and no, I don’t think a £2 present is clever. It is just mean. I could afford to spend £25 on someone for Christmas when I was a student! Even if you didn’t see the spreadsheet, I think his behaviour was really not on.

wowzelcat · 19/10/2024 15:33

YourFunMember · 19/10/2024 15:27

Maybe he’s had problems with gold diggers in the past.

Maybe, but they have been dating two years? how long is she supposed to be tested, a decade?

Moremustard · 19/10/2024 15:34

I could well believe the stocks and shares ISAs are his pension pot and so not to be touched until 60. Remember stocks and shares can go up and down. His inheritance from his mother's house could already be accounted for..or she's done equity release and that's the money he's got in his pension pot....A lot of assumptions are being made. As for the (relatively inexpensive) coat she bought him as a present, maybe she bought it for him, because she liked it (and not because he wanted or needed it. We Women do that sort of thing 😜 ) her willingly taking his financial advice with the idea he had no money himself?? A bit strange..🙄

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is not accepting new messages.