Sharing a home usually means sharing all that it entails, both the joys and the burdens, the latter of which typically involves financial responsibilities.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with this netizen, as her boyfriend wasn’t keen on sharing household expenses, such as bills. After financially supporting both of them for quite some time, the woman was finally fed up; that was because her partner started thinking about buying a new boat, while she was going deeper into debt.
It’s important to discuss financial matters when living with a partner
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo)
This woman asked her boyfriend several times to contribute to bills more, but he was thinking of buying a boat instead
Image credits: Daniel Olah / unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Grumman LLV / wikipedia (not the atual photo)
Image credits: Anon
Most couples seem to believe that relationships work best when partners have similar financial goals and habits
While moving in together with your partner is exciting, it’s important to discuss the less fun and romantic aspects of sharing a home, too, such as paying the bills or dividing up chores. And while the couple might decide not to share the expenses equally or tackle every household task together, any arrangement can arguably work, as long as both parties are fine with it.
In the redditor’s household, both parties weren’t seemingly fine with the arrangement in their home. The woman shared that she repeatedly asked her partner to contribute to bills, but that would always result in fights, and it’s safe to assume that fighting rarely ever makes the relationship any better.
According to a Forbes Advisor survey, another finances-related matter that tends to negatively affect people’s relationships is a sudden loss of income or a salary reduction. And while a committed partner is often the person to help their loved one through difficult times, the help can’t last forever, as the redditor’s story shows.
The said survey also revealed that the vast majority (86%) of respondents believe that relationships work best when both partners have similar financial goals and habits. In addition to that, one fifth argued that both partners should contribute equally to expenses regardless of income.
Dividing financial responsibilities is not always a 50-50 split
Image credits: Mikhail Nilov / pexels (not the actual photo)
People’s relationships seem to be significantly affected by financial matters in more ways than them having to share bills, as data suggests that it can even affect their willingness to marry. According to a survey carried out by the Thriving Center of Psychology, more than seven-in-ten millennial and Gen Z respondents say that marrying in this economy is too costly. (Though, roughly as many of them say that they’re simply not interested in getting married.)
The aforementioned survey also found that out of the couples who moved in together—whether with the intention to get married some day or not—roughly half said finances played a significant role in the decision. As many of them revealed not dividing such expenses as mortgage or rent equally between the two partners. Over a third of respondents admitted feeling that their relationship is not financially equal.
The OP, too, clearly felt that the relationship was not financially equal, which eventually made her fed up with her boyfriend’s lack of financial contribution. But him considering buying a new boat, all the while his girlfriend was going into debt supporting both of them, was seemingly the straw that broke the camel’s back. Fellow redditors in the comments pointed out that it was about time the woman broke free of the arrangement and stopped supporting her partner.
Fellow netizens believed that the woman was definitely not overreacting
Some time later, the woman shared an update, letting netizens know how things unfolded
Image credits: Anon
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