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Relationships

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Am I wrong to rethink this relationship after his job loss?

54 replies

AyaAya26 · 24/05/2026 11:03

I have been with my boyfriend 5 years, we had a good relationship with the usual issues. We do not live together. I lived in a small dumpy apartment with my two teens as my landlord was great and the rent was cheap. Landlord got married new wife raised rent $1000/month. I luckily found a house and the mortgage is $200 more than what my rent would be.

Our relationship has shifted since I bought the house. He was a software engineer for a financial services firm and got laid off shortly after. I demanded he get a job as he had no drive to hit the streets (I am a nurse and I get a lot of overtime). He begrudgingly got a job at FedEx and would not go to his high school reunion because he didn’t want to tell people he works at FedEx.

I feel the purchase of my house and his layoff is causing a serious issue where I don’t know if I want to be with him anymore. He no longer gives me gifts for bday and such, didn’t get my son a gift for his HS graduation but came for free meal, sleeps all day on his days off (told the counselor we never spend time together because I work so much) which is a lie.

We were invited to my best friend’s son’s getaway wedding that I paid for (I got a cheaper hotel near the wedding) and he kept trying to get me to leave early as “We don’t spend time together” and I refused.

He volunteers at a homeless shelter 3-4x a week and takes piano lessons. I have told him he needs to stop volunteering so much and he cannot afford piano lessons. I pay for the dates when we go out, and he complains about how crappy his life is. He is also making comments about when the kids are leaving so he can move in, I told him if we make that decision we will buy or rent something together and the kids will rent the house from me.

We used to go to the gym, as he started refusing to go and gained a lot of weight (like 100 pounds-he sits at home sleeps, eats, drinks). I told him I am worried about his health and his eating habits, and we need to get to the gym, that his weight is a problem as he is too heavy for me when we are intimate. He once again refused so I canceled my membership (he still has his, he won't cancel it, he goes by himself to lay on the massage beds), and he is now telling everyone I called him fat.

He asked me to go with him to his counselor, who berated me for “not supporting him” and when I said he needs to get a job and stop volunteering so much and stop taking piano lessons he berated me again stating “It makes him feel good!!!” He then angrily made the comment in therapy "I don't have a house that I can relax in!!!" (He could if he got a second or third job)....

A few weeks back he started hinting that he had no money for his child’s support and I got angry and he changed the subject. Not happy with this therapist, after the therapy I went to the bathroom thinking he was in the hallway when I got out I couldn’t find him walked around the whole place found him BACK in his office and they were discussing if “This relationship with her is worth it?” and he was saying he thinks it could work.

I just found out he is behind on his rent; I told the therapist that he didn’t seem to care. Please help, AITA?

OP posts:
Wickedlittledancer · 24/05/2026 11:30

AyaAya26 · 24/05/2026 11:28

Yes I told him that about a month ago and he now doesn't feel comfortable being intimate because I "called him fat."

Just bin him off. It doesn’t work.

Stoicandhappy · 24/05/2026 11:40

AyaAya26 · 24/05/2026 11:27

I am not paying anything; I will pay for dinner when we got out (Like once a week) and I cook alot and he will come over for dinner maybe once a week.

Mate! Add that all up! He’s a freeloader.

Bananalanacake · 24/05/2026 11:50

Don't let him move in with you, at all.

Chilly80 · 24/05/2026 13:03

Dump him

S0j0urn4r · 24/05/2026 16:32

You have a wannabe cocklodger on your hands. Time to release him back into the wild.

Missohnoyoubetterdont · 24/05/2026 17:11

I mean, it’s not going to get better. He is showing you who he is.

Kub1aKhan · 24/05/2026 17:18

Cocklodger in the making here….run!!!!

GeorgeMichaelsCat · 24/05/2026 17:21

Brightbluesomething · 24/05/2026 11:08

End it now. It won’t get any better.

Exactly

WallaceinAnderland · 24/05/2026 17:28

I'm not seeing the relationship part. You don't live together, you don't fancy him, you don't enjoy his company. What's stopping you from just saying the words 'it's over'?

Endofyear · 24/05/2026 19:36

Oh god, just dump him! He sounds like a self-indulgent waste of space who just wants to leach off you! You can do much better

Frillysweetpea · 25/05/2026 18:17

@AyaAya26 Why are you hesitating to end it?

Laura95167 · 25/05/2026 18:27

You dont need therapists agreement to leave him. So leave him

MMUmum · 25/05/2026 18:46

AyaAya26 · 24/05/2026 11:15

Thank you, I am heading that way....we had good history prior to his layoff....I am not happy at all with him.

Then leave !!

Lookingdownthebarrell · 25/05/2026 18:52

We all fall on bad times but it’s down to us to get ourselves back up. He is not doing that. Instead he is taking from you. In practice I can understand a spell of low motivation but that should be a spell not as long as he’s allowed it to continue for and you can’t prop him up especially with your own work and children to prioritise over another adult.

Find another therapist if you need one,
maybe it’s him and not you or you both that needs a therapist to help him get real and rebooted back into his life.

You leave and do what’s right for you. In a partnership, marriage really, the words are till death do us part but only if both pull weight - he is not and had not.

tiptoethrutulips · 25/05/2026 20:52

Just reading that gave me the complete and utter ick re this guy.

Should have called it a while ago

Silverbirchleaf · 25/05/2026 21:07

It’s not the loosing the job that’s the issue (what was the reason?), but his attitude since. He’s not being b proactive in finding a new job, and moving forward.

Red flags from your post - behind on his rent, talked about moving in with you, wanted you to pay his child support. Before you shared simijj k at financial values, and now he’s become lazy. Yes, volunteering is noble, but it’s only part of life (and won’t pay the bills).

cocklodger alert

FlapperFlamingo · 25/05/2026 21:48

No way would I be having him as a boyfriend. It sounds like he’s changed - even before the lay off re his weight (if I read your OP correctly). Honestly dump and move on. You are not compatible 1 you sound positive and hard working, he sounds like a grifter.

MissConductUS · 25/05/2026 22:00

He is working on finding a new career as a cocklodger. Don’t be his first victim.

mumofoneAloneandwell · 25/05/2026 22:06

Far be it for me to defend a man, but he has health issues that he needs to sort

He's clearly having a mental breakdown

Op - dont be unkind to him. You yourself are not disabled.. yet. The way that karma works is that you could suffer your own breakdown and need support, and believe me its not a nice place to be.

But i hard agree that you need to end things. Tell him he needs to get himself to a place where he can be happy

It sounds like volunteering and piano learning is keeping him sane. Yabu to tell him to quit it and get to work, youre not Kim Kardashian!

Also, i wouldnt want to go to my school reunion if I was working at FedEx, thats a normal reaction.

Are you in the UK? If so, he needs to get himself on benefits and start to heal. But he needs to do it whilst being single. Just leave him alone to heal, as your, semi understandable, resentment is clear

All the best

Edit, out of curiosity, where does he live, is he with his parents? Hopefully they can keep him there for some time

Friendlygingercat · 26/05/2026 02:04

I agree with the PP upthread in some respects. He has managed to find an interim job. There is nothing wrong with working at Fedex, or Tesco or MacDonalds. Its honest work. However if its not the salary and status he had as a techie then he needs to concentrate on getting back into his specialism. I agree about the volunteering and the expensive piano lessons. If he had a bit more ambition he would be expending all efforts to secure a more permanent role and treating the Fedex job as a means of simply paying his bills. Getting behind on his rent is a big red flag. Keeping a roof over his head should be a priority. It indicates that he ses your roof as a plan B. Time to rethink this relationship.

Therealjudgejudy · 26/05/2026 03:46

Dump this disaster op----

FictionalCharacter · 26/05/2026 04:33

He is also making comments about when the kids are leaving so he can move in
End it quickly. He's preparing to sponge off you permanently.

MrsColinRobinson · 26/05/2026 13:50

mumofoneAloneandwell · 25/05/2026 22:06

Far be it for me to defend a man, but he has health issues that he needs to sort

He's clearly having a mental breakdown

Op - dont be unkind to him. You yourself are not disabled.. yet. The way that karma works is that you could suffer your own breakdown and need support, and believe me its not a nice place to be.

But i hard agree that you need to end things. Tell him he needs to get himself to a place where he can be happy

It sounds like volunteering and piano learning is keeping him sane. Yabu to tell him to quit it and get to work, youre not Kim Kardashian!

Also, i wouldnt want to go to my school reunion if I was working at FedEx, thats a normal reaction.

Are you in the UK? If so, he needs to get himself on benefits and start to heal. But he needs to do it whilst being single. Just leave him alone to heal, as your, semi understandable, resentment is clear

All the best

Edit, out of curiosity, where does he live, is he with his parents? Hopefully they can keep him there for some time

Edited

Nice piece of fiction you wrote on his backstory. Where has it been indicated he's disabled or having a breakdown? Nowhere - you've created this.

If you're going to comment, especially if berating op about their behaviours and actions you perceive to be at fault, at least get the basic facts correct to begin.

OP I'm perplexed like many posting wondering what you're asking here because it's obvious you need to end things and there are no practical reasons getting in the way.

mumofoneAloneandwell · 26/05/2026 13:56

MrsColinRobinson · 26/05/2026 13:50

Nice piece of fiction you wrote on his backstory. Where has it been indicated he's disabled or having a breakdown? Nowhere - you've created this.

If you're going to comment, especially if berating op about their behaviours and actions you perceive to be at fault, at least get the basic facts correct to begin.

OP I'm perplexed like many posting wondering what you're asking here because it's obvious you need to end things and there are no practical reasons getting in the way.

He got laid off and cant work the career he had
Has gained 100lbs
Stays home all day
Is in therapy

Thats an unwell man

I only say that as I went through a breakdown and had people calling me lazy and useless, which is why i see things from his perspective

That said, i dont think this man sounds like the usual twat. The op should leave him, 100%, but i think that he is unwell rather than bone idle. He shouldn't be in a relationship and they both should've ended things forever ago

Him blaming her to the therapist is cheeky, but hes unwell and therefore not to be engaged with further on this matter

Leave op, if you havent already - you deserve to be happy and he needs to get himself stable and sane

Seriously12 · 26/05/2026 17:31

Get rid of this lazy selfish lover.

You are wasting your precious life on him.

What a shocking example to have around your children.

Get rid of him.