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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:
Pipsquiggle · 19/10/2024 19:20

The more you write @AmIbeingUn, the more I think he has a psychological issue on hoarding and not spending cash and genuinely believing he's poor.

Whatever his issues are, what are you going to do about it?
Stop justifying your anger to the few posters who think he has done nothing wrong.

I do think you need to have an open conversation with him. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life with someone who won't spend £23 on a Travelodge, feigning poverty? Someone who spends £2 in a charity shop for a present whilst he has just sold a flat for £250k? A man who brings up how little cash he has EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU SEE HIM?

Speak to him, maybe the next time he pleads poverty.

coffeesaveslives · 19/10/2024 19:21

BettyBardMacDonald · 19/10/2024 19:19

Why stay with a man she describes in such derogatory terms, is the question.

She resents sitting at home or going out with friends sans him. She resents his attitude toward money. Why are they together? Sounds like it's an FWB arrangement on his end, while she is looking for an all-in partner.

OP, the dating prospects get even worse in one's late 50s and beyond. If you want a different type of relationship you need to get out there fast and find it.

Exactly - none of it makes any sense - and it certainly doesn't tally with her description of him as being "emotionally attractive" and a perfect match Confused

HollyKnight · 19/10/2024 19:21

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 19:06

"This man is spending his savings on his house."

No he isn't. He has explained to me clearly and more than once that all the materials for the renovation are coming out of his £28k salary. Hence there is nothing left over for anything other than essentials.

"What he has invested for retirement is not money he could be spending on her instead."

I have posted time and time again on this thread that I DO NOT WANT OR NEED ANY MAN TO SPEND MONEY ON ME. Other than the usual modest Xmas and bday gifts where he gets the same from me in return. I have stated over and over that I pay my 50% and WANT to pay my 50%.

He sold a flat to free up money because the S&S and ISA is not for spending now. It's for the future.

As I said, he told you he wasn't going to be spending money. You should have listened.

helgel · 19/10/2024 19:22

Jumping the shark comes to mind.

DuckbilledSplatterPuff · 19/10/2024 19:23

She didn't resent it when she believed him that he was genuinely skint, it is only now when she's been through 2 years of enforced cost cutting and listening to the skint sob stories and just found out that the reality is that he's actually more than substantially well off... of course she's angry about being hoodwinked by this person.

Sorry to say OP.. I just had a vision of the BF and his DM on holiday in Egypt, seeing the pyramids in style with a suitcase full of warm Ribena cartons, nicking extra bread rolls off the breakfast buffet.

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 19:23

@BettyBardMacDonald

What in your mind is the difference between a FWB and a boyfriend?

I don't just go to his house for sex then leave. We are in and out of each other's houses and lives on a daily basis and for the vast majority of that time we are not having sex! We spend whole days together, sometimes whole weekends, doing a range of different things and talking about a wide range of things. Do FWB do that?

OP posts:
Pudmyboy · 19/10/2024 19:23

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 16:12

Thank you for that. I've never heard of money hoarding before. He complains sometimes that his mother is a hoarder. She has filled her four empty bedrooms with papers and magazines collected over decades which she will "get around to reading" when she isn't so busy with this and that. As an only child he knows it will all be down to him one day to get rid of it all.

Now I wonder if hoarding might be hereditary.

Reading the article also reminds me that he knows exactly how much everything costs. Like, a shower costs him 85p, running the dishwasher, £1.15, the washing machine, £1.30 so he does laundry at night when the electric is cheaper. I've never met anyone before who knew all these figures and was impressed but now I see it in a different light: unnecessary and extreme miserliness.

This is really interesting, does sound like it describes your boyfriend's behaviour around money. Sadly, if that is the case, there won't be any change in his behaviour and you may be looking at a long term relationship of cosy nights in, delicious generous breakfasts but nothing else.

Crikeyalmighty · 19/10/2024 19:24

@AmIbeingUn mm - initially I thought it was maybe a test on his part - the more you say you are either having a laugh with us ( I hope not) or he is indeed simply a total tight arse.

If it's genuine I think he's going to lose a lovely lady purely because he values money more because whilst he may have pots of it- I don't think you will be getting much benefit from it sadly- he gets more of a buzz from seeing the figures than actually living life.

sandyhappypeople · 19/10/2024 19:24

You need to ask him OP.

People are getting bogged down with the details, but it's irrelevant, if he has got money stashed away, then he simply doesn't trust you with that information.

THAT would be a deal breaker for me unfortunately, so you need to find out if it is true and make a decision from there.

Delphiniumandlupins · 19/10/2024 19:24

He's currently living on £28k a year, including paying materials for a house renovation. He is living very stingily but it's unlikely he needs (or expects) £50k a year in retirement.

burnoutbabe · 19/10/2024 19:25

But none of his MoneySaving habits sound ridiculous?

Bar going part time to do all own work in house and not paying others to get it done quicker.

Taking a dribk to the theatre/shopping in Lidl or charity shops isn't the worse things exer.

You're just clearly not compatible it seems. He doesn't want to spend and hasn't spent for 2 years. Just you now know he could have if he wanted to. So a less noble reason than you believed?

Whereas other women probably would have just said -you knock yourself out being frugal, I am off to find a man who wants to go out occasionally.

coffeesaveslives · 19/10/2024 19:26

DuckbilledSplatterPuff · 19/10/2024 19:23

She didn't resent it when she believed him that he was genuinely skint, it is only now when she's been through 2 years of enforced cost cutting and listening to the skint sob stories and just found out that the reality is that he's actually more than substantially well off... of course she's angry about being hoodwinked by this person.

Sorry to say OP.. I just had a vision of the BF and his DM on holiday in Egypt, seeing the pyramids in style with a suitcase full of warm Ribena cartons, nicking extra bread rolls off the breakfast buffet.

But even if he had been genuinely skint, his behaviour is so far outside the realms of normal that putting up with it just makes no sense. Surely no man is that good in bed?!

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 19:26

@DuckbilledSplatterPuff THANK YOU for "getting it". You have summed up how things are perfectly in your post. And you made me laugh with your Ribena joke.

In our town we have a shop which everyone calls the "dented tin shop". They sell out of date stuff like crisps and biscuits and chocolate and .... juice cartons. Everything is so cheap! Like the crisps are 20p but they are a bit stale and chewy. He loves that shop!

OP posts:
LurkingFromTheShadows · 19/10/2024 19:26

It's the lying, I just don't think I could get past it.

Though reading all your updates, it's starting to sound like he has some mental health issues surrounding money...

wordler · 19/10/2024 19:27

Just tell him that you need more in a relationship - and if he claims he's too poor to do proper dates and go on holiday, ask him if he'd be okay with a more open relationship, non-exclusive.

So you get another boyfriend for proper dates and then pop round to his once a week for a cozy home movie night date and a nice breakfast the next day.

Opentooffers · 19/10/2024 19:27

So you spend your weekends at home, while he works on his house. You've put up with this for nearly 2 years !!!
All I can say is, you're a long time dead, and this man is holding you back from life. Why pit up with it? I hope you see him for what he is now.

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 19:28

wordler · 19/10/2024 19:27

Just tell him that you need more in a relationship - and if he claims he's too poor to do proper dates and go on holiday, ask him if he'd be okay with a more open relationship, non-exclusive.

So you get another boyfriend for proper dates and then pop round to his once a week for a cozy home movie night date and a nice breakfast the next day.

Would I lie to the 2nd boyfriend about where I am on Saturday nights?

OP posts:
Mirabai · 19/10/2024 19:31

BettyBardMacDonald · 19/10/2024 18:04

Why do you say he's not investing wisely? It sounds as though his ISA is invested longterm in the financial markets as most of us are.

Funds of 1.5 million + could be invested with a wealth management company which would be far more sophisticated than stocks and shares ISAs, (although you could certainly have those as part of your portfolio) which would allow you to invest the yield back into the fund to grow it over time. He’s probably doing something along those lines DIY but he’s an IT guy not a pro investor.

WhitneyBaby · 19/10/2024 19:31

I’m so invested in this thread, I’ve spent all day trying to work out if he’s brilliant with money or terrible. To have so much and not spend any of it on things that most people would consider enjoyable. To work part time and drop 28k per year plus half his pension contributions doesn’t seem a smart thing to do for someone trying to hang on to their money.
He’s defining got some sort of financial OCD (or whatever it’s called) issues going on.
I have 55k in S&S isas and they’ve gone up 1k this week, he must be getting an absolute fortune from his, easy enough to finish his house.
Do you know much of his past relationship history?

TheShellBeach · 19/10/2024 19:32

DuckbilledSplatterPuff · 19/10/2024 19:23

She didn't resent it when she believed him that he was genuinely skint, it is only now when she's been through 2 years of enforced cost cutting and listening to the skint sob stories and just found out that the reality is that he's actually more than substantially well off... of course she's angry about being hoodwinked by this person.

Sorry to say OP.. I just had a vision of the BF and his DM on holiday in Egypt, seeing the pyramids in style with a suitcase full of warm Ribena cartons, nicking extra bread rolls off the breakfast buffet.

My cousin and his wife actually took Coca-Cola with them when they went abroad because they'd heard that the rum was cheap, but the Coke was overpriced.

This was 40 years ago BTW.

They were not short of a bob or two, either.

Mirabai · 19/10/2024 19:32

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 18:55

He told me that his work pension is higher than the state pension, which I know is about £880 pm

That’s not saying much.

AmIbeingUn · 19/10/2024 19:33

@Opentooffers "So you spend your weekends at home, while he works on his house."

No. Not every weekend is the same. This weekend I am so angry with him and I need time to get over the shock of what I have found and work out what I am going to do about it.

Most weekends he labours all Saturday then showers and comes to collect me about 6pm, spend the evening at his, overnight, lazy Sunday morning, big breakfast, then either I go home, or I stay and watch him or help him do work on the house, or he has the whole day off and we play a board game or watch a film or we go out somewhere free or very cheap or visit his mum or a friend.

OP posts:
Bekindmyarse · 19/10/2024 19:33

OP, you come across as a really lovely, genuine person with the patience of a saint. I hope you can navigate this.

SuperPandaMakesARunForIt · 19/10/2024 19:33

Please leave him. This situation sounds utterly miserable. He's not about to change. Buying you a £2 gift and pretending that he can't afford anything more is ridiculous. He's cosplaying poverty when he doesn't need to be.

I love a good bargain but I know when to be cheap and when to splurge. If you go to the theatre once every five years then get nice seats. It’s different if you're going every month.

You deserve someone who doesn't lie to you. The issue isn't the saving - it’s the lying and what sounds like theatrics that are the problem.

NoisyDenimShaker · 19/10/2024 19:34

Good God.

I don't think he needed to tell OP how much he's worth, not at all. Nor that he has just had a cash injection of 250k.

But refusing to go out anywhere and giving her the Bambi eyes over a 2-pound charity shop present is playing her or a fool, lying for no reason, and plainly is utterly ridiculous.

I couldn't stand the ridiculousness of the 2-pound present while having all that money lying around. I don't know what kind of idiotic game he's playing, but this would be too weird and too manipulative for me. Total turn-off.

OP, I think you should break things off.

I also question if leaving his laptop open at those sums and her alone in the kitchen is a test.

Yuck. This is someone who has major, major trust issues and I hate the way he's manipulated OP.

Apart from all that, you have to consider that this is someone who's so stingy that he wants to stay in all the time instead of enjoying life a little with a few dinners out or theatre trips. WHAT A FUN GUY.

I'm so turned off on the OP's behalf, lol!

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