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DH Vent (re: Valentine's Day)
So DH apparently is having
flowers sent to me for Valentines Day (he is out of town for work). I
found out when I went to our checking account. $70 he spent on them! I
handle our finances and I didn't budget $70 for stupid flowers. If he
had said at the beginning of the month he wanted money for gifts or
something then fine. However, he just goes and spends a pretty large
amount of money (for our budget anyways $70 is a lot!) on flowers. I
would rather have had a back rub or help cleaning the house instead. I
know he was just trying to be nice, but seriously dude. We're in debt
and keep talking about how we need to be better, etc and you go and
waste $70 on something like flowers. Come on! He did the same thing for
my birthday last week. I told him I didn't want anything except to have a
clean house (I can't do much since I have a baby attached to me 24/7)
and instead he gets me an itunes card and goes away for work for 2 weeks
leaving behind a trashed house that I had to find time to clean before
my family came to visit.
Re: DH Vent (re: Valentine's Day)
Aw man, I hate that. DH has bought flowers that I didn't think I needed or could have spent the money elsewhere, but I know he does it with good intentions. Plus, I really like getting flowers so I can't get mad. I would be just as happy with a $6 bouquet from the grocery store though.
Sorry you're feeling overwhelmed with the house cleaning. I know I didn't want to use the, "I just had a baby so my house is a mess" excuse, so I get how you feel.
Awww...but your baby is sooo cute!!
It kills me that flowers have become this crazy, overpriced "necessity" pitched to men for Valentine's Day. I mean, I love flowers, but they are just so expensive, especially this time of year. We are also on a budget, so I feel your pain in that regard - DH is definitely the one to be more free with spending on "fun" things and I always feel like a stingy jerk saying anything. Unfortunately, I don't think there's much you can do at this point, but we've gone through quite a few years worth of no gifts in order to curb extraneous spending - or only buying something we need and considering that our gift to each other. Perhaps wait a few weeks and then suggest this going forward for the next year or so? Also, I just registered for an account on Mint.com, which helped us see where our money is really going - that might be an eye-opening reality, when he sees how much is going toward the "gifts" category - though it sounds like you are on top of your budget already. Sorry, I wish I had better advice...
Seriously, though, your baby is so cute
yeah I'm a total *** and already yelled at him. I told him I'd rather have the gift of not struggling financially all our lives instead of flowers. I feel bad, but I'm using the excuse that I'm totally stressed/sleep deprived from the baby to justify it.
Thanks
well, it sounds like you've discussed all of this before, so I would hardly call you a *** for blatantly speaking your mind - dancing around the issue may be polite, but doesn't necessarily get the job done
This is great advice!
My DH spent about $70 on a dozen long-stem roses for my birthday the first year we were married. I had a similar freak-out. I did love the flowers and the sentiment, just not the price tag. Ever since, he buys me nothing but $20 grocery store flowers, which makes my heart and the budget happy! (I generally only get flowers twice a year - Valentine's Day and Mother's Day - so I don't mind the little splurge.)
This is really interesting. One of Josh's big hangups when I kept telling him (and still tell him) over and over that I didn't really want gifts, was that he can't imagine not wanting gifts or a surprise, so maybe it's just what you're describing.
This book/theory is very good and in my experience it makes a lot of sense. Definitely check it out!!
That's really interesting!