A frustrated mum has reached breaking point over her husband's obsession with winning prizes on the McDonald's Monopoly game.
The woman has described how her partner visits the fast food restaurant several times a day, and wastes unwanted food by collecting stickers. He is even considering spending £80 on stickers sold on eBay, and has joined in on bidding wars for the elusive rare Monopoly tickets.
The mum has also become concerned about his spending habits, claiming they are financially stable - but his obsession with the game could leave them short by the end of the month. She also has voiced worries over her children's health, as he fobs off some of the food to them each day - with the drive-thru food typically being an occasional treat for the kids.
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Feeling like she is beginning to hate her partner for his continuous McDonald's trips, and overly ready for the scheme to end, the woman took to Mumsnet to vent her frustrations. Many agreed that the husband was spiralling into a gambling problem, and some couldn't even believe what they were reading.
In a post, she wrote: "I just need a rant.
"I dread it [McDonald's Monopoly] every year as he is always the same, but this year is particularly bad. He’s absolutely obsessed with collecting the stickers and trying to win the prizes.
"He has been going several times a day (we live just round the corner) and spending stupid amounts of money on food to get the stickers.
"He never even eats half the food and gives it to the dog or the DC. I don’t mind them having McDonald’s but it’s meant to be a treat and he’s giving them cheeseburgers and nuggets every day for a snack, to get rid of them because he’s only interested in the stickers on the packaging.
"I have lost it today as he has come home with 12 lots of fries!!!! We can’t f****** afford this. We’re not on the breadline and have a couple of hundred spare each month but not for f****** McDonald’s splurged."
She continued: "We are now just one sticker away from winning the holiday (the final sticker is extremely rare and there’s only a few of them in circulation, so out chances are still vanishingly low) and so the obsession has ramped up.
"We’d had our breakfast (he p***** off afterwards for his McDonald’s stickers) and so they got thrown out. We have an on and off rat problem so I’d rather not be throwing out heaps of uneaten food.
"He joins f****** Ebay auctions and is always on his phone inputting the codes. He even joins online discussions on it.
"He really wants the cash prize. He is saying that somebody is selling 500 of the stickers for £80 and he’s considering it. I’m sure it’s a scam.
"He knows I will go nuclear so I’m praying he doesn’t do it, but we both allow each other some treat spends each month so he may well spend it on that."
The mum concluded: "It’s all he f****** talks about. This morning, he was moaning about how he saw an article saying that he saw an article about McDonald’s staff cheating and peeking at the stickers beforehand, and I snapped at him to bloody shut up. He is completely neurotypical and doesn’t typically hyperfixate on things, but this is always an issue every year.
"He’s also convinced the kids we’re winning a car and a holiday. When I’m cleaning, I’m always having to pick up the stickers.
"We’ve got that many of those free meal prizes that our family of 4 will never be able to get through them before they expire. I handed most of them to homeless folk in town the other day, otherwise they wouldn’t have been used. And he whinged that he could’ve used them to buy more food to get more stickers.
"It is genuinely making me resent him. I can’t wait until it ends."
The post quickly gathered comments with hundreds of people rushing to give their two-cents. While many agreed with the mum's obvious point about her husband's problem, some weren't even sure it was true.
One said: "This sounds like he might almost have an obsession. A bit like a gambling obsession, constantly chasing that dopamine high...maybe he needs actual help?"
"Why does he get the food if he is not going to eat it? Why not just go in and pay full price for empty boxes? I appreciate that the wasted food is just part of the problem but I can't get past 12 lots of fries going in the bin," another commented.
And a third wrote: "This can't possibly be a real thing?? Who would do this lol."
A fourth noted: "Just cause it’s not going down the bookies it’s still gambling and as you said it’s money you don’t have he’s spending."
And one saw the more serious side to the problem, replying: "I know people are taking the p*** but it doesn't sound funny to me, it's basically gambling and with money you can't afford. He sounds totally addicted, but weird that it's only this one thing a year and he's not maxing out scratch-cards, slot machines etc the rest of the year."
One offered some advice, saying: "Gambling addiction. I'd try to talk about it to him in these terms. I'd also be worried about him moving on to another form of gambling when the promotion ends."
And another offered some harsh truths, concluding: "He's a grown man wasting family money. And then having the nerve to throw away food. Unbelievably wasteful. The money he is spending surely could be saved and you could actually take a holiday with it. You know, the holiday he is trying to win?
"Tell him to pack it in, if he can't then he needs to see a therapist for a possible gambling addiction."
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