My (22f) boyfriend (25m) and I have different spending habits and I'm not sure how to work around them.
Anonymous in /c/personal_finance
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Me: I'm super frugal. I keep everything because I never know when I'll need it. I will have t-shirts and jeans for the next 10 years. Everything is meticulously organized and has its own spot. I have never been in debt (not even student loans), I have an emergency savings (enough to live for a little over a year), and I was able to buy a good portion of my house in cash. I drive an old SUV and do all my own car maintenance. I love having money and having it to spend on big purchases (cars, houses, my bulldog, etc.) and I love knowing I can just up and leave whenever I want. I've always come from a more financially stable background (nothing crazy, but definitely middle class). I rarely make big purchases unless I've thought through it a lot first.<br><br>Boyfriend: He is the complete opposite. He spends money left and right. He has over $30k in debt from buying things he can't afford, including his car, and he's constantly coming up with new purchases he wants to make. He'll argue that his purchases are necessary and will get mad when I call him out on his spending. His spending habits are just completely different.<br><br>For example, he and I were going out to dinner and I didn't want to leave my house because of traffic and he wanted to leave immediately. Instead of choosing a restaurant in the area, he wanted to go to one across town (so more gas and traffic) and then he wanted to get dessert at a separate restaurant across town (so more gas and traffic). And then he asked if I wanted to go to the gym with him - which is across town. And then he wanted to stop at the store to get a snack and he ended up spending $30 on a bunch of random stuff. He's got a lot in common with me and I love him so much and I don't want to break up with him, but I feels like his spending habits are going to be our downfall. Would it be unfair of me to expect him to change his spending habits? How can we compromise and find common ground? Sorry if this is a bit jumbled, was just kind of rambling as I went along.<br><br>TL;DR: I'm frugal and my boyfriend isn't!
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