Mandy B (23:04)
Dating while broke is the subject hey ladies, I have been in a relationship for about five years now. I'm a black woman, he's a white man, and he is also about 17 years older than me. Ooh girl, I've had that age difference before as well. I have a teenage child from a previous relationship that I am the primary parent of and it's the exact same situation with him. Just to paint the picture for you, recently I've been questioning if I want to continue with the relationship, one of my main reasons being his finances. It seems like he's always complaining about being broken or not having enough money to do certain things. At first he would only say it once in a while, but now it feels like he says it all the time. He still makes a way to plan simple dates or treat me to certain things, but days later he will complain about his money not being right or how he's tired of being broke. I try not to pocket watch but he makes more than me. Not a significant amount, but it's considerable and splits the rent and bills with his mother. His child had been living with her for about seven or eight years now. I know things are expensive and he has personal bills outside of the bills that he shares with his mother as well. But he also has a gambling habit. Girl, that's bitch. He ain't broke, he just irresponsible. I just feel like he should get a better control of his budget to afford his wants and needs. Also, what's crazy is just talked about this on selective ignorance. This is purely him being selectively ignorant not budgeting correctly. Bro, you live with your moms, you raising a whole kid under your mama roof and you gambling. Outside of me being a single parent and working full time, I also recently completed my master's degree program which I hope will bring me a more lucrative employment. I'm not struggling, but there's nothing wrong with striving for better. I know that's right. With it only being me and my daughter, I pay all the bills and maintain the household. Her completely out of the picture. So I received no support from him or his family. Now don't get me wrong, I am far from perfect and fall short from time to time as well. It just seems like he is always in a financial bind. Despite the fact that he makes more and splits bills with someone. And because of his openness about money issues, the very few times I needed help, I avoided asking him. Hell, when I questioned if I should be entertaining anyone if I'm not where I want to be financially, I just have a feeling he doesn't have the same moments of reflection, bitch. And don't. That's why he been living with his mama for seven or eight years. The most recent incident was a trip that I wanted to take. Ooh, girl, not you wanted a trip in this economy with a broke nigga living with his mama with gambling issues. And yes, I am that girl that only flies on certain airlines and likes to stay at certain hotels. You know, because his money was short and he couldn't convince me to take a cheaper flight or stay at a cheaper hotel, I went with my best friend instead, Period. To celebrate me getting my master's. I want to take a trip out of the I already have a feeling that he's not going to be able to, and I'll just go by myself with no, it's not. When a woman says something is fine, it's not. About two years into the relationship, he brought up moving in together, and my response was an immediate no. Not only am I uncomfortable compromising me and my daughter's space, but I don't want to live with a man with money problems and bad credit. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I simply just gave the reasoning of I'm not ready. I'm sure he didn't like the response, and I can see me not wanting to live with him being the reason he breaks up with me in the future. How would you approach this situation? Have y' all ever experienced dating a man that was financially irresponsible? Also, as a woman, have you ever felt you shouldn't be dating because of your finances? Love y' all and looking forward to your responses. Oh, shit, my bad. Y' all done dropped my sign because I done. I done had on this one. All right, how would I approach this situation? I would love to know if you're in thera. Because knowing that this relationship is five years old, knowing that he's been living with his mom for seven or eight years now, knowing that two years ago he asked you to move in. I'm confused as to how y' all even got here. You. You said you have a teenage daughter, so even at the bare minimum, you had her early. You're in your early 30s. I don't know what you're waiting for. As to why you're not moving forward from this relationship, it doesn't seem like. I guess my question is, and only because you didn't put it in here, what are you getting from this? What is he providing you that you feel so stuck in this relationship that you don't deserve more? He can't even go on trips with you. He can't celebrate a moment that means a lot to you. You don't feel like you can count on him when you're in a bind. What. What is keeping you in this relationship? What's keeping you here? And why? And why have I ever experienced dating a man that was financially irresponsible? No, not one that I considered having a long romantic partnership with. I think if I think of someone who was financially irresponsible and maybe it wasn't financial irresponsibility as much as it was the irresponsibility of the decisions he made that led him to not be able to get a job. If you listen to a couple years ago, shit, maybe actually six, seven years ago now. I met this guy on Tinder. He went by Felon Bay. At the time, thought he was just, oh my God, I was just giddy about him. But he couldn't find certain employment because of his felony record. And so for me, that was a huge part of why I didn't consider taking him serious. Although, like, we had a blast and he was fun and he lived right around the corner and it was a great thing, um, to me, long term, I didn't see how it made if he was still figuring out how to get on his feet. And for me, you made this decision five years ago as a woman with a child, as a single parent with a child to get into a romantic partnership with a man living with his mom who is 17 years older than you. I'm just going to do the math. Say you 30. That mean when you met him? No, no, no, let's say you 35. Let's go my age because now we go get. Let's say you met him at 30, bitch. When you met him, you met a 47 year old man with a child living with his mother. I want to know how your pussy got. That's what I want. I want to know how he done made it five years. I want to know how he made it past the first date. I think at some point we have to stop dating people and considering their potential. And I don't know what potential you saw in a man who got you 17 years your senior and couldn't move out his mama crib. I don't know what potential you saw. Tell me now. The other and the last question you asked is, as a woman, have you ever felt like you shouldn't be dating because of your finances? Boy, read the goddamn book. For me, there was a sense of self worth in how I would show up as a partner, as a woman who wasn't financially secure. So in my 20s, I actually felt like I wasn't ready to be anyone's girlfriend because I was such a dire and to show up financially for me. And so the idea that I only wanted a man who could come in and pay my bills or take me on trips, I knew that those wouldn't be real. They wouldn't be based on the premise that I like this man, that I'm in love with this man, that he's everything. I wanted more. I knew that it was based on survival instincts of this man can provide. And so for a lot of my relationships, they were transactional because of that. I absolutely wanted a sense of and wanted to feel like I liked a man because I liked him, not because of what he could do for me. And so again, for me, I think two years into this relationship, him even asking and wanting that to happen two years into the relationship, I think two years is also enough time to see if Amanda together. And maybe you're five years in deep. And it don't seem like nothing changed in a gambling. A gambling problem is not something fixed with a pill. It's not something fixed just overnight. That is a hard addiction that should be treated as crack cocaine. You know, like, baby, it's hard to wean yourself out of. Of the addiction of gambling. But also whatever debt has incurred from it, and there's a lot of embarrassment that stems from that. He clearly maybe not, is not even too prideful for the simple fact that he did ask to move in, for the simple fact that he'd been living with his mama for seven or eight years. And so my advice to you would be to sit with yourself. And I want you to, to ask yourself if you believe you deserve better, do you deserve better? Do you believe that there is any person out there that has the ability to show up in the ways that you would like a partner to show up? And if the answer is yes to those, my advice to you is to break up and end this relationship. Um, it's not serving you. And again, even if he's making you feel butterflies, bitch, think about how you feel about not being Able to celebrate your master's degree completion with your partner because he too poor to fucking get on a flight and. And book the hotel and enjoy the pleasantries of life that you want to travel. Don't let this reli. This relationship rob you from your happiness. Don't let it happen. Don't do it, girl. Don't do it. Don't do it. Um, also love that you misled me with the title here. Dating while broke. Um, you are in a relationship with a broke nigga. You not dating while broke. You are in a relationship with a fiscally irresponsible fuck boy. And I'm gonna call him a fuck boy because, bruh, he at least in his 40s, at least living with his mama and been living with her for seven or eight years, and he might not even be paying as much or splitting the bills as much as you think he is with his mama. Cause he might be a mama's boy. So I'd say go ahead and. Go ahead and break up with him. In the good words of Crystal and Fury from the Reed, break up with him. Hopefully. I spoke to some of you listening to this as well, because, baby, we are rounding up the year 2026 is around the corner, and, baby, January 1st is not the time to. And start feeling good about yourself and wanting more for your life. Fuck the turkey, the Christmas gifts. Don't sit here and wait and squander through these. These holidays knowing that you're with somebody that just ain't foot in the bill, that just ain't cutting it. I'm telling y', all, this is where you start making your New Year's resolutions, stepping into what you're welcoming into the New Year. You start doing that right now. Right now. So for this listener, I would absolutely advise you to break up with him and really sit with yourself and put out into the universe the type of partner that you feel like you deserve. And I'm telling you, I know we be talking about dating is the ghetto girl. I'll be finding some good ones. I got good ones right now. I got two and a half great ones that are making me, like, just show me, like, you know, so, yeah, do that. And for anyone wanting to submit their listener letter, go ahead, send us your letter to decisionspodmail.com because, bitch, you got decision. See y' all next Wednesday. This is an I heart podcast.