'As the breadwinner, you hold all the leverage': Husband refuses to spend $2,000 on wedding gift for wife's friend, wife tallies up his recreational finances

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    CREDIT CARD SHE ENG WIT
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    AITA for refusing to let my wife spend my money on her best friend?
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    My wife has known her best friend since middle school. Her friend is a lawyer and her family is quite well off. She makes a lot and is pretty
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    generous with it. My wife has had a few things paid for by her. Specifically she covered my wife's portion of her bachelorette trip. The
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    other friends didn't make much and so she covered it. She also paid for a portion of my wife's rent twice and she normally pays the bills if she and my wife go out for food.
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    This friend is now marrying a doctor and I don't think they have any trouble with paying for anything they want. My
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    wife is a SAHM and I'm a mechanic. I bought home a bonus of $3k and when I told my wife she immediately started talking about getting her friend a really expensive
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    necklace from this brand she knows her friend really wants. She showed me and the cheapest necklace is $2k on the website. She insisted I should spend the bonus
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    on a wedding gift for her friend. I shut her down and told her it's my bonus. and she really cannot expect me to buy her friend something this expensive. I don't think
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    wedding gifts even exceed $100. She began fighting with me saying I buy lunch out of the house and I have stupid
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    hobbies that cost a lot of money so why can't she spend some money like buying her friend a necklace?
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    I do spend a bit on my hobbies and I have 2 cars but I also work my off and her friend can definitely pay for it. herself. She is marrying a doctor and they already
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    have a house whereas we are still renting! I told her she is being insane and she insists we sit down and tally up everything I spent on myself in the last year and if it's higher
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    than 2k I should pay for the necklace. I think it's ridiculous to compare the 2 and I'm refusing to let her buy her friend a ridiculously expensive
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    gift. She insists her friend has spent a lot on her and I also saved money because her friend pays for meals and activities
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    whenever they hang out so she doesn't have to spend our money. I get that the lope sided relationship isn't the best
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    but then she should refuse to do anything that costs too much and let her friend decide if she wants to just hang out without doing anything.
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    that costs money. She refuses to talk to me now and I'm wondering if I'm the a hole here?
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    Rando... 18h ago. • Not the ah le for refusing to buy your wife's friend an expensive gift that's more than half of your 3k bonus.
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    Potentially the ahle for what sounds like an uneven distribution of money and/or input on how it's spent. When the spouse is a stay at home, the
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    breadwinner can't lay total claim to income. "My money" vs "our money". Supporting your stay at home spouse requires more than
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    just ensuring their bare necessities are covered while you spend unilaterally on expensive hobbies and multiple vehicles, then
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    complain about renting instead of owning your home. Your wife has a valid reason to question your cumulative 'fun money' expenses.
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    If you're legitimately concerned about whether you're the AH, you should oblige her and tally up everything you've spent this year on yourself. You may find that she's right,
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    you spend big on you and she gets scraps. Some would consider that financial abe when factoring in the power dynamic play.
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    As the breadwinner, you hold all the leverage.
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    • 18h ago • Edited 17 Part ipant [2] OP, my husband has been a stay at home dad when our boys were young because I generated a far bigger income from my growing business
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    and we agreed that if the kids were with at least one of us, it didn't matter who.
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    They went to daycare for 1 day each, after we had the twins because he literally had his hands full.
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    Right from the first week we agreed on an amount each for "hobby money/fun money". It was exactly the same amount for both of us despite our large income disparity.
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    We can spend this money how we wish, it's where birthdays gifts to each other comes from. ALL other money are joint funds for bills, savings, pension etc.
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    My question to you is; Why do you think you deserve hobby money "because you work hard" and think you deserve it, but your wife doesn't?
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    Believe me, I worked 16 hour days in the beginning, getting things off the ground, and even with just the one child at the time, I
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    realized that I had the easier deal! My husband couldn't take a break unless the baby was sleeping, he was exhausted from constantly being on
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    the lookout for safety issues, choking hazards, making baby food and feeding, playing with our son, reading him stories, walking
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    the floor with him when he was teething, or had cramps. We both did night duty, so we were both tired, but he had no let up. He
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    LOVED being a stay at home papa, but once our younger two started school he was also rather relieved.
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    He said; "I wouldn't have missed those years for the world, but I never ever want to do them again".
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    Parenting alone with small kids IS A JOB, and a stressful one at that, why does your job "deserve" a hobby fund but hers not?
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    Your wife deserves money she can save up and blow on a gift for her friend, money she doesn't have to run the purchase by you first, and get your permission to spend -
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    just as you don't get her permission to spend your hobby money. If you don't see that, and clearly you don't,
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    then it means you don't see her work, the effort put into the "job" of raising your children of any value.
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    You are effectively saying you don't even see it as work! If I were your wife would be not just pi@@ed off, I'd feel SO demeaned, so shame on you!
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    MOST DEFINITELY YTA!

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