Well-off husband criticizes wife for spending $45 a week at her sisters burger business, buys a Big Mac for himself in protest: 'I told her it's not our job to support her sister'

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Aug 3, 2024 9:00 PM EDT

It's so important to support your family in the ways you can. That doesn't just mean seeing each other twice yearly during Christmas and Thanksgiving. It means showing up for them in the things they care about. If your sibling ran a business in your area and you never supported it, they'd probably feel lousy. It's one thing if your kid brother sells dog food and you don't have a dog, but it's another thing if he sells a product that is affordable, delicious, and enjoyable for the whole family, and you refuse to support it.

One husband and wife recently went viral for squabbling about this exact problem. The wife spent $45 each week to buy burgers for her family of 5 from her sister's business. Her husband couldn't wrap his head around why she'd do that since they have the recipe, and technically, she could make them at home. 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10378617600
    via Dennis Lorente
  • 02
    AITA for telling her to stop spending $45 on burgers weekly?
    via u/Still_Elk424
  • 03
    My (M42) SIL (33) recently started selling burgers on Saturdays. She works a 9-5 Mon-Fri office job with a good salary, but she recently discovered she is pregnant with her ex's baby, he is no longer in the picture, so she is selling burgers for extra income.
    via u/Still_Elk424
  • 04
    Now, every Saturday my wife (40) buys burgers for our family (3 kids, 12, 10 and 8). My issue is that my SIL sells every burger for $9. So 5 burgers is $45. The burgers are tasty, don't get me wrong, but she is using my MIL recipe, that my wife also knows, so I don't see why we should spend $45 weekly on burgers when my wife can make identical ones at home and we would spend less money on ingredients.
    via u/Still_Elk424
  • 05
    To be clear, technically we can afford SIL's burger comfortably, I just don't see why we should when there are cheaper options
    via u/Still_Elk424
  • 06
    I try to talk about it with my wife and she said she mostly buys because she wants to support her sister. I told her it's not our job to support her sister, beside as I said the burgers are tasty and every weekend they are sold out in a couple of hours, so I don't think losing our 5 burgers would put a dent in her business.
    via u/Still_Elk424
  • 07
    Yesterday I told my wife again we shouldn't buy burgers, and she asked me why I cared if she was buying them from her money, not our money (we have each an accoutn, and one joint account). I told her it's not about that, I just don't think it's sensible to spend $45 every weekend on burgers when she already knows the recipe. She said she will be spending $36 then, because she won't be buying mine anymore if it bothered me so much.
    via u/Still_Elk424
  • 08
    That's exactly what she did, she bought burgers for our kids and her, and didn't buy one for me, which okay, anyway I got a big mac for cheaper. So I thought we were okay, but she has been acting as if she is mad at me since yesterday. I fail to see why she is mad, AITA?
    via u/Still_Elk424
  • 09
    HudsonsBlink . 2 days ago YTA I was going to say NTA until I got to the part where you say that you guys have separate accounts and a joint account, and she is buying the burgers from her own money.
    via u/HudsonsBlink
  • 10
    "We" aren't buying the burgers. She is. From her separate money. Does she micromanage how you spend your money? What if she instead just gave her sister $45 a week from her own money, in exchange for no burgers, what business is that of yours?
    via u/HudsonsBlink
  • 11
    JeansInMyKidneys - 2 days ago Call me a but even if it's a joint account the fact that OP said they can comfortably afford them and that they have no pre-existing beef with the SIL... Then just buy them man. It's a sweet thing to do, wife doesn't need to cook or clean up and you can help out SIL without it seeming like charity like I
    via u/JeansInMyKidneys
  • 12
    gnomehappy. 2 days ago Sounds like he really doesn't support her choice to be a single mom. Either that, or like you say, he really doesn't like her!
    via u/gnomehappy
  • 13
    jbarneswilson 2 days ago i think it's the fact SIL has a 9- 5 and op views that as a proper job whereas flipping burgers is not
    via u/jbarneswilson
  • 14
    CalligrapherAway1101 . 2 days ago Even if she didn't make good money, OP has no right to look down on any job, really.
    via u/CalligrapherAway1101
  • 15
    Specific-Respect1648. 2 days ago The older I get the more I realize just how envy- driven people are and that I've been subconsciously making myself appear small and dumb so as not to trigger other people's envy. The dude is probably envious that SIL has a successful business outside the 9-5.
    via u/Specific-Respect1648
  • 16
    • IronclayFarm 2 days ago There's just a lot of people in the world, sadly, who are just "me, me, me." They don't comprehend that you are actually supposed to care about people outside of your nuclear family. Just because you move out of your parents' house and get married, that doesn't mean that your parents, grandparents, siblings, etc just become completely unimportant NPCs in life. OP's one of those people.
    via u/IronclayFarm
  • 17
    InfamousCheek9434. 2 days ago I wonder what he would say if it were HIS sister...
    via u/InfamousCheek9434
  • 18
    LJ_in_NY 2 days ago The part that got me is "it's not our job to support her". That's EXACTLY what family is for. The woman hasn't done anything wrong. They can afford it. It's out of the wife's account. The second my husband says that to me is the second he's out the door. I'd do the same for his sister too. Family takes care of family. He's a huge AH.
    via u/LJ_in_NY
  • 19
    raginghappy 2 days ago The part that got me is OP saying his wife can just cook them herself. Maybe she doesn't want to cook them herself smh
    via u/raginghappy
  • 20
    Socotokodo 2 days ago Yes! He wasn't offering to cook, he just thought she could. What an A- hole!!! Self serving . Just another dude who thinks his opinion is the only one that counts and that women exist to serve his needs. And god
    via u/Socotokodo
  • 21
    forbid she ever has a negative reaction or gets grumpy with him- I mean, why does she get to have any emotions at all. Poor him, why oh why is his help causing him so much trouble. YTA!!!!
    via u/Socotokodo
  • 22
    TranslatorWaste 7011 2 days ago I feel like there's no better way to support family than supporting their business. SIL isn't asking for handouts. A good burger for $9 or a $6 burger from McDonald's? I'll pay the extra money for something that doesn't give me a raging stomachache.
    via u/TranslatorWaste7011
  • 23
    Sheepherdernerder 2 days ago OP also misses the point when his wife says they are supporting her sister, she doesn't mean financially, she means emotionally supporting her and believing in her and her product. It's not about the money, it's about the community. He doesn't get it so yeah he is TA.
    via u/Sheepherdernerder
  • 24
    DWPhoenix001 - 2 days ago I got to we can comfortably afford the burgers, OP instantly became the YTA there. What's wrong with a family treat once a week? Especially if it's helping another family member. If it was a case that they were struggling then yeah they shouldnt be wasting money they cant afford but if its not impacting them in way negative way then why complain???
    via u/DWPhoenix001
  • 25
    Florarochafragoso. 2 days ago Creating a bit stink out of this is def going to hurt his marriage
    via u/Florarochafragoso

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family drama burger kids wife hamburgers husband sister in law dad in laws family food sister mom burgers fast food money hamburger
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