'WIBTA for calling off my wedding because my fiancé is extremely frugal?' NEW UPDATES
"WIBTA for calling off my wedding because my fiancé is extremely frugal?"
I 31F struggle with my fiancé’s 32M frugalness and not sure if I want to marry him anymore after 3 year relationship. I met my Fiancé 3 years ago. He came out of an bad marriage just 2 years before we met.
One of her absolute worst traits was finances. She bled him dry. Made him buy expensive jewelry only to give it away or break it after an argument. Designer shoes, clothes, big house cars… Caribbean trips. you name it she made him pay for it. She also took him to the cleaners in the divorce.
However. My Fiancé is very well off. He makes far over 6 figures almost 7. On top of that he inherited a few millions from his grandfather and his parents gifted him and his siblings also a few cool millions. So yes the financial issues wre bad but he does not suffer financially. He has more money than he will ever need.
So last year I moved into his house. I do not pay rent but I split the bills and buy food. I pay for my own clothes and jewelry. I have a good job and I can take care of myself. However things have been taking a turn for the worse and I feel miserable.
His house was empty when I moved in. He had hand me down furniture. Maybe 3 forks and 2 knives. He wouldn’t put on the heating so the house felt cold and moldy. He has no curtains, no decorations. His ex took everything not bolted down and he was too cheap to replace it. Just imagine a million dollar house like that!
I am grateful that I can live in his house. It is something I could never afford myself. But I didn’t want to live in squalor! So I bought some kitchen supplies, some furniture… but at some point I realized I was dipping in my savings all the time and he did nothing. I looked into curtains but those things are expensive. His house has so many windows it is crazy. I didn’t want to pay for this anymore.
I told him I needed a fund to furnish his house. He blew up at me that I was just with him for his money. I pointed out all the money I spend on his house. The gifts and the trips because he pays for nothing ever. Because he wants to be sure I am not here for the money.
The fact is, if we break up I have nothing… the house is not mine. If I spend all my savings on his house I will be left with absolutely nothing! He wants a prenup and I am fine with that but I can’t help but feel used.
Next to that I am jealous of his ex wife. I feel like she got treated and I am neglected. He proposed to his ex on a cruise with a 10.000 dollar white gold diamond ring. I got the rhodium plated Swarovski stuff that might cost like 100 bucks.
The proposal was at a picnic in the park I organized, payed groceries for and slaved in the kitchen for. I almost said no out of pure disappointment . However I am afraid to bring it up and to be called a golddigger. I don’t want to be funding a millionaire’s lifestyle. He loves everything as long as I pay for it. As soon as he has to pay it is frivolous, unnecessary….
I can live like a poor person by myself. At least the fact there are literal millions lying around doesn’t hang over me to bum me out.and I would just be paying for my own lifestyle.
WIBTA for calling of a wedding purely for financial reasons? Because I love this man, but I imagine our cheap wedding in contrast to his ex her extravaganza, will our future kids be able to have some luxuries? Or only if I pay for it? What if I ever become a stay at home mom? Will I have to beg to put the heating on?
Edited to answer questions I see a lot: I know the financial issues are not made up. His family and friends told me separate stories of the ab^%e they witnessed. Not only did it confirm it, it showed me she was way more terrible than I thought.
Like stealing heirloom jewelry of his grandma with alzheimer right after she was widowed. Pretending she was gifted these things even though every one knew grandma hated her guts.
I did not realize or see he is doing the same to me as she was to him and he is (subconsciously) punishing me for what was done to him. I am not trying to force a lifestyle in him where he was previously happy in.
He told me prior to moving in that he left his house like this because he was depressed after his wife took everything ( even the curtains) that it makes him sad and he wants a cozy home. He just didn’t know where to start.
His house is paid off, thanks to grand dad. He isn’t actually spending much on utilities either, house is very well isolated and has solar panels. It is weird to see how cheap being rich really is. I am not asking for designer furniture. Ikea all the way and I have refurbished second hand furniture myself. I am actually pretty thrifty.
I see where my jealousy over the ex her lifestyle might have triggered some people. Let me explain. A 10.000 dollar ring is insane and stupid to me. I do not want that because I would fear for losing it every day. I don’t need an over the top wedding … however, it almost feels like for her he did effort.
Wanted to give her what made her happy. Put effort and thought in it. With me it almost feels like he wants to prove how little he can give me. He talked about how he would see the wedding and it is cheaper than my actually financially struggling cousin her wedding.
I can’t help but feel he wants to demonstrate how cheap he can treat me! And I already feel embarrassed about the family that would have been to both and I will feel like the discount wife. I don’t like to say it but it feels like he gets of on it to some extend. We are almost talking washing paper plates at this moment.
Yes I did discuss selling the mansion I really don’t need and move to a more modest house. Especially knowing this is the house his ex picked. He doesn’t want to do that. He loves this house… but I feel really intimidated living in a house I could never afford anyway. And so many large windows… tjeesh
I havn’t talked to him yet but pauze on the marriage and counseling is a must . I already am looking for IC because I realized I might indeed be too much of a people pleaser allowing him to control me with the ghost of his ex. I also am going to seperate for a while. I am looking to rent something for a few months so I can get some space. Thank you all for your insights!
Here were the top rated comments from readers in response to the OP's initial post:
SeniorDay
NTA. “I understand you’ve had some trauma in your past and I’m sorry you went through that. But I can’t allow you to mistreat me because of it. It burns me up inside that you gave her everything, but I have to beg for the bare minimum. I deserve to feel cherished by my partner, as I have cherished you.”
Expensive_Pangolin60 OP responded:
Oomph that hit me right in the feels. 😢
Drunkendonkeytail
Counseling. Insist on premarital counseling. He is reacting to his divorce and his feelings about it by taking it out on you. Don’t spend another dime on him or his house. But I do suggest you two do some entertaining. Invite his family and friends over.
Your family and friends. If he wants you to pay half do so, but only within your budget. Invite 20 people over to sit on the floor and eat frozen lasagna and drink crystal light off paper plates. Without heat or air conditioning. Open the curtains and shed light on how you live.
Fearless-Web-8748
You two are not ready for marriage if you’re not able to talk to him about this. You need to be able to talk about your concerns to have a healthy relationship. WBTAH for calling things off without any communication. However, NTA if you communicate this, as you did in this post, and continues to accuse you of being a gold digger.
Four days later, the OP returned with an update:
Okay I hope this update makes sense because I am very confused and not really doing that well at the moment. Well you changed my life. thank you so much for all your ideas and insights. Honestly I don’t think I would have had the courage to do what I did without you guys. I went to therapy Took the day off just to get my racing mind to calm down.
Therapy has confirmed things you guys suspected. I am a people pleaser, I wanted to “save” him and I have internalized the idea that any effort and every penny I want him to spend on me makes me a gold digger.
I will have weekly sessions to work on me. I realized I would have never taken this treatment from any of my exes. Even though I made more then them. The idea I had to proof myself “ worthy “ to be with a millionaire and not be in there for the money got in to my head pretty early.
I called one of his siblings I am pretty close with and just told her everything. She was not surprised but just sad about how unhappy he was making me. She told me that from the day we started he had this idea that “ I was out of his league”.
He struggled to understand why I wanted to be with him and he probably just thought : it must be my money. She told me she already talked to him in the past to treat me better. She was furious about the proposal.
This information confused me a little. I was a little hurt she never discussed any of this before but she thought it was none of her business. She also explained how she and her husband organized their finances. He also doesn’t have as much as her.
I took the opportunity to pack a bag. I haven’t n’t found a place yet but I am going to stay with my parents. I made up my mind that I will at least want 6 months apart to get myself in order. I made sure my stuff was in the car because honestly I had no idea how the conversation would go.
So onto the most difficult part. The talk. I waited for him to come home. He was pretty late but I didn’t want to sleep another night on this. Pretending I was fine while I was contemplating all this just ate me up.
I had written down what I wanted to say. I have never been so scared before. I didn’t want to hurt him and I didn’t know how he would react. I took some advice from here. I opened that I was moving out and that I wanted to pauze our engagement.
He was very quiet and just sat down. I told him he really hurt me by calling me a golddigger and that I am done walking on eggshells and feeling guilty for just wanting basic things. I told him I was unhappy and felt neglected. I also told him that after 3 years of me showing up for him he still doesn’t think I am here for him, it is not going to happen.
He was just quiet. He didn’t say anything. I told him that the constant comparing to his ex was unhealthy and unfair. Punishing me for her sins was wrong. I told him comparing her to me all the time has triggered me comparing myself to her and starting to feel like she was worth more than me.
One of the things about her was mostly ungratefulness. He would do nice things for her but it was never enough. The thing is, he doesn’t do nice things for me and I have to be grateful for the pleasure of picking up the bill.
I told him he was not ready for marriage. That I dreaded having kids with him and live like this. That is didn’t trust he would take care of me if I would become a SAHM. And at that point I just called him a user. I was getting pretty angry saying all this out loud. Losing my composer and script a little bit.
He remained quiet with almost no emotion on his face. I stayed quiet but nothing came out so I decided that I would just leave. Only when I got up to go he said please don’t go. He asked me if I was pausing the wedding or calling it of. He wanted to know if it was over or if he still had a shot.
I told him I wanted out of this house. I honestly don’t want to live in his ex her palace of sadness anymore. I needed him to go to therapy and especially financial therapy. I needed a separation. I told him I was open to couples counseling if he went into IC.
He begged me not to do the separation but honestly I really really wanted it. I just told him to think about it and I left him. He was finally showing some emotions. He was crying at this point.
He sent me a very long text somewhere in the AM. Told me he was a wreck and couldn’t sleep. He made all kinds of promises. He would go into therapy, sell his house, buy a smaller one and make sure I am taken care of whatever happens. He said he would help me decorate and we will make a home. He again asked me to please come “home”. But to me it doesn’t feel like home there anyway.
I feel very empty and tired. I have been sleeping most of the day. I feel guilty but also a little bit relieved if that makes sense.I don’t know if I actually want back if he does all that. Idk I am a little unsteady right now. I need some time to process.
I will go back for the kitchen supplies and my tv. I won’t take anything else of the furniture. This for the exact same reason I was unwilling to buy everything: his house is huge so the couch is huge … I can’t take it.
Here were the top rated comments from readers in response to the OP's update:
Drunkendonkeytail
Oh, good for you. You chose you. Yay for you. I’m sure this is unbelievably hard right now for both of you. He’s incredibly damaged and needs to be more whole before he can show up for anyone else.
You’ve sustained some damage too, and need to find yourself and learn to put yourself first, not in a selfish way, but in a healthy way. Wishing you the best, and thanks for the update. I was so concerned that you’d stay and prolong the unhappiness.
Yetis-unicorn
If you go back, it needs to be AFTER he has started doing the work for an extended period of time. Not just a few weeks. People will promise you the Sun and stars but once they get you back it suddenly isn’t a priority and they’ll start fulfilling all these promises “later” or they’ll put in real effort for a few weeks and then slide back into their old comfortable complacency.
Talk about what he needs to work on and if her does it and sticks to for six months to a year then I’d be willing to consider that things are turning around. He doesn’t need to do everything perfect right away but he needs to keep trying and continuing with therapy and strategies that you both feel comfortable with.
Trickster289
I think what it comes down to is her ex hasn't dealt with his issues from his marriage and isn't ready for another relationship. He needs therapy or something to help him accept the idea that not all women are like his ex wife.
JosieZee
I just left this same relationship. I was told I was going to steal all his money, and he couldn't be affectionate because his ex had shamed him. I'm not a therapist, you have to work on yourself and not punish your current partner for what your ex did to you. Good for the OP for waking up and getting out!!
maedocc
Some comments from OP make it sound like she's DONE. He would literally let her freeze in his giant unheated house. He hasn't taken any steps to go to therapy, but dumped a bunch of money into her account. He's trying to patch over his behavior without addressing the roots of it. And she sounds so relieved to be out of this mess.
About a month later OP came back with another update:
Hi everybody. Let me just say I am overwhelmed by the number of people really caring about me and asking for updates. Strangers who care about you is a feeling like no other 😊 thank you!
So as I said I left. I am looking for an apartment I can afford. My parents are helping out. I am living with them and saving up.
I am not closing all doors but as for now we are broken up. I have no contact. The first week he transferred a large amount to my account. It really rubbed me the wrong way. It just showed me that he still thought that money was what kept me here. I deducted the couch I left and transferred everything else back I asked for no contact after this.
He has been respectful of it and I feel free at the moment. I felt guilty for my needs. For wanting to be taken out every once and a while. The longer I am out the harder I realize it was a%$#e. I have an autoimmunity problem and the cold house caused it to flare up. Even after that he kept turning the heat down. He rather have me miserable than pay what? 100 dollars extra in the end of the year?
The last thing I heard is that he put the palace of sadness on the market. I have seen the adds so happy he is going through with that. I heard of his sister that he is in therapy. I am happy for that and I hope he keeps that up! He is keeping his promises so far but I need to see real change and even then I really don’t know.
I am building my own life by myself. Thinking about getting a puppy. If I give him another shot. It has to start all from scratch. I want to start dating again and take it slow.
Therapy is really a good idea. I now know I was just bringing this on myself as a people pleaser. Savior… wanting this man to be happy so bad I forgot about myself. Never again. So that is all there is to say really.
Here's what people had to say after this update:
Best of luck! Please never forget your worth again, because others will shortchange you if so.
True! I allowed this from day one and let him play his fantasy revenge on me. The red flags were there so early. Loving ourselves is the key to a happy life
[deleted]
Just know that you should never ask for a bare minimum. Standards are always up. Good luck!
I was just thinking about your post and am so so happy to see this update. Glad you are taking time for yourself. Btw… getting a puppy when I was single has been the best decision I’ve ever made.
I am doing it! Yolo! 😊
2 days later OP made a new posted with more details:
I posted on AITAH: With the question if I would be the AH for breaking of my engagement because my fiancé was extremely frugal. I have since broken off because I couldn’t do it anymore. But I was told you guys could give me more insights.
So when I met my SO one thing that was very prominently positioned in our relationship was his divorce of his ab%$ive ex. She only wanted him for his money. She told everyone who wanted to hear it. Even to his family she “joked that he was lucky he had money or he would be single for the rest of his life”.
That was most of her material. “ lucky he is rich because : he is boring, dumb, bad in bed …. “ She would spend gross amounts of money on clothes she never wore, jewelry she either broke in fights or gave to her girlfriends.
He would try to please her but it was never good enough. Caribbean holiday: why not the presidential suite? Fancy restaurant , why this bad table? They moved a few times because she kept wanting bigger houses. He divorced her because she would tell him their marriage was not real and she wouldn’t touch him ever again. There were some indications she was cheating. She again took some nice funds on her way out.
I knew about all these stories pretty soon. His family confirmed these. His friends as well. They were told to me so I could be sensitive to his issues and understand. So very early on even not subconsciously I was very scared at being seen as a golddigger.
Him and his family are super wealthy. Their grandpa owned a very big company and he became CEO. Even with all his ex her spending and the divorce… he will have more money he could ever spend in this life time.
I do okay for myself but compared to millionaires I am not that much too look at. Who is right!? In our early dating life he would take me out and treat me but never any fancy restaurants. After a while we went dutch. Even later restaurants became “unnecessary spending” a sentence I now know would haunt me for the rest of our relationship.
I loved restaurants so I started treating him and he loved it. He would make jokes that he couldn’t wait to see where I take him next. I would get compliments about how was so different from his ex accompanied with a story about her getting stuff and not being happy about it.
I moved in to his house last year and I was instantly unhappy. His ex took everything not bolted down. He had a broken old couch, matress, old tv and 2 spoons. That was about it. He lived in a million dollar house completely stripped. He told me he had been unhappy but his depression after divorce stopped him from redecorating.
I felt very blessed to live in a house like that so I wanted to “pull my weight” I bought kitchen supplies, new bed, couch, TV… but I quickly started to realize that I was the only one doing this. If I would talk about redecorating he would either tell me : later, or oh you are the expert I leave this up to you. I wanted us to buy things together and he would simply block me.
I wanted to buy a dining set. Those I showed him were too expensive, I got thrifty and found one I could paint and he said : no that is too cheap I don’t trust it … and I would run out of options and enthousiasme.
I was not allowed to turn the heat on. I was allowed but he would whine and ask me if I knew what heating a house like this costs. He would turn it off behind my back. Now I have an autoimmunity disease and while living with him it flared up to unseen proportions. Doctor told me it was the cold.
One of the bigger blows was his proposal. I organized a hike and a picknick for us. I prepared everything and he decides to pop the question. The ring was the cheapest thing he could find. It was Swarovski crystal. He didn’t even splurge in the Swarovski shop either.
I don’t like to be jealous but his ex was proposed to on a surprise cruise with a 10.000 dollar ring. She was given so much and I was not even worth minimal effort. It all became too much for me when I asked him for a fund to redecorate the house. Especially curtains as these were so expensive given the crazy amount of windows he had.
He blew up at me and called me a gold digger. I was so hurt. I just didn’t want to marry him anymore. So I left and went into therapy. I realize I am a people pleaser. I brought this on myself.
I am now looking to buy an apartment for myself. My ex is trying to do the things I asked of him. He really wants to be better and is in therapy. But something in my broke when he called me a golddigger ( because this “golddigger” was spending her savings on him).
Somewhere deep down I feel like I owe him another shot, but at the same time being out feels very freeing and I don’t think I have what it takes to do this again. Sorry this got long. Thanks for listening.