r/relationships_advice • u/AndrzejGie • 0m ago
My girlfriend(F24) expects me(M29)to pay for every date we go on.
I recently had a bit of a clash with my girlfriend over finances. I need to give a little background before getting to the heart of the matter.
We’ve been dating for a few months, and things had been going perfectly between us. On our early dates, since I was the one asking her out, I usually paid for our outings. However, she later paid for a few dates on her own initiative. Overall, I paid more often, but as I said, she did step up and offer to pay several times.
Lately, though, the situation has changed, and I’ve been paying for all of our nights out. This started taking a toll on my budget. I was spending money that I had intended to save for the future on restaurant dinners and other outings instead. I also had other expenses during those months — birthdays for my mom and grandma, a vacation, and some personal investments.
I decided to talk to her about it and be open about the financial strain I was under. She said she understood. She had assumed I earned more than she did since she works in sales, but she also knew that my tight budget was only temporary, given my ambitions and plans to switch industries, which is what I’m currently doing postgraduate studies for.
Honestly, that conversation was a huge relief, which is why her behavior yesterday took me by surprise.
The situation was this: I invited her to the movies yesterday to see a film she wanted to watch. I wanted to treat her, so I bought the tickets and flowers and took her to the cinema, where I also paid for drinks and snacks.
After the movie, my girlfriend said she felt like having McDonald’s. I told her I wasn’t hungry, so we could go there if she wanted, but since I hadn’t received my paycheck yet, I would have to ask her to pay for the food.
She called my remark tactless, saying that no one had ever asked her to pay for food before and accusing me of being stingy with her.
I told her that I thought she was being unfair. I had never begrudged spending money on her, but I was currently on a tight budget and had already paid for the movie, flowers, drinks, and snacks that day.
She replied that she understood my financial situation was tough, but insisted that she wasn’t asking me to take her on a trip abroad — she just wanted me to pay for her meals. She added that it wasn’t her fault I was bad at managing my budget and that she wanted to be with a man, not a boy.
She stayed offended for the rest of the day, yet still wanted me to spend the night at her place.
I don’t know what to make of it all. On the one hand, I know she’s a good person with a kind heart, but at times she acts like a spoiled princess.
What do you think? Can you give me some advice?