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‘Get Out Now’: People Are Begging This Woman To Leave Her Abusive Husband After She Writes A Post Online About His Bizarre Behavior
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‘Get Out Now’: People Are Begging This Woman To Leave Her Abusive Husband After She Writes A Post Online About His Bizarre Behavior

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People change. Usually, over time. But the antagonist of this story did a complete 180 in just a moment after the wedding bells rang for him and his wife.

A few weeks ago, Reddit user u/aitalightswater posted a story about her husband who, right after they got married, quit his job and took the family’s finances into his own hands.

Now, he even keeps the lights on and water running in the house all day, every day. Literally.

When u/aitalightswater tries to confront him, the man just repeats an analogy he came up with and lets her know he’s having none of her “nagging.”

Lost and confused, the woman asked other Redditors to hear her out and share their opinion on the situation. Here’s what she said.

Image credits: Imani (not the actual photo)

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u/aitalightswater’s Reddit account has been suspended so I doubt we’ll hear from her again. And I’m not sure about her situation, but the American Psychological Association (APA) says that with practice, couples can learn to talk about finances in a healthier, more satisfying way.

Which is reassuring, given that the 2014 APA Stress in America survey found almost a third of adults with partners (31 percent) reported that money is a major source of conflict in their relationship.

“The old idea that opposites attract may have some basis in reality,” the APA wrote. “We are often drawn to a partner whose personality and style complements our own. But differing beliefs about money can be a recipe for conflict.”

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“We develop beliefs about money long before we comingle our finances with a romantic partner. Research shows we inherit attitudes, values and beliefs about money from our parents and other family members. We may not even be fully conscious of our beliefs about spending and saving.”

Early on in a relationship, many people discuss their views on marriage, children and where they want to work and live. Unfortunately, they rarely sit down together for an honest talk about their attitudes on finance.

As the story was going viral, OP provided more information on the conflict

The good news is that there might be a solution to many of these problems.

“Couples often divide duties, and financial duties are no exception,” the APA said. “One partner might handle day-to-day household spending, while the other focuses on long-term savings and investing. But those roles are naturally at odds with one another. Such a division of labor is often a source of conflict.”

To avoid any imbalance, some couples trade the jobs back and forth: one month you might handle household spending and your partner might focus on savings and investment. The next month, you can swap.

“Another good option is to share roles equally. Set up a regular day and time each month to sit down, pay the bills, discuss your expenses and review your savings plans. Try to schedule something fun for after the meeting; if you know you’ll be going to the movies or on a bike ride afterwards, your money date will feel less like a chore.”

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But if some issues appear too big and you find yourself arguing with your significant other about the same thing again and again, keep in mind that psychologists are experts in helping people change their behaviors and break out of unhealthy patterns. Many of them specialize in relationships and marital issues, and can actually help you and your partner learn healthy ways of communicating.

As for splitting bills, you can read a comprehensive piece I’ve written about it here.

And replied to a few commenters

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suuspuusje avatar
Susie Elle
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just goes to show how bad gaslighting can get if you start to doubt yourself whether asking your husband to turn the f*****g taps and lights off when he's done with them is reasonable or not. I mean what the actual- In what universe is turning the tap NOT off normal? These are so many red flags I can't even count them. His behaviour is so outrageously weird that I'm seriously wondering about his mental health.

konstantin_2 avatar
Kesam
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow. No wonder she feels she is going insane. What does him being a mechanic have to do with turning off the lights and water?? And btw, just the thought of constantly running faucets will give me nightmares tonight. 😰

leodomitrix avatar
Leo Domitrix
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To the OP: RUN. Just run. No stopping. I won't credit this to mental illness, b/c the face he's unemployed home all day? He's finding a way to do two things. 1. Have noise/perception of activity/busy-ness. 2. Show his negative emotions with what is passive-aggressive at best and active gaslighting at worst. I'd wonder about head injury/trauma/etc. but I've seen too many a-holes in my dad's family do stupid sh*t to their working wives, and this isn't even the stupidest. (One uncle amuse dhimself during an unemployment period by making more housework for her in ways I prefer to not describe, but we should've had him litter trained.)

talk2text avatar
SB
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Agree, but I don't think it's head injury as he behaved like an adult until he tricked her into marriage. Sounds like covert abuse or covert narcissism to me. Passive-aggression, gaslighting, financial abuse.

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suuspuusje avatar
Susie Elle
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just goes to show how bad gaslighting can get if you start to doubt yourself whether asking your husband to turn the f*****g taps and lights off when he's done with them is reasonable or not. I mean what the actual- In what universe is turning the tap NOT off normal? These are so many red flags I can't even count them. His behaviour is so outrageously weird that I'm seriously wondering about his mental health.

konstantin_2 avatar
Kesam
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow. No wonder she feels she is going insane. What does him being a mechanic have to do with turning off the lights and water?? And btw, just the thought of constantly running faucets will give me nightmares tonight. 😰

leodomitrix avatar
Leo Domitrix
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To the OP: RUN. Just run. No stopping. I won't credit this to mental illness, b/c the face he's unemployed home all day? He's finding a way to do two things. 1. Have noise/perception of activity/busy-ness. 2. Show his negative emotions with what is passive-aggressive at best and active gaslighting at worst. I'd wonder about head injury/trauma/etc. but I've seen too many a-holes in my dad's family do stupid sh*t to their working wives, and this isn't even the stupidest. (One uncle amuse dhimself during an unemployment period by making more housework for her in ways I prefer to not describe, but we should've had him litter trained.)

talk2text avatar
SB
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Agree, but I don't think it's head injury as he behaved like an adult until he tricked her into marriage. Sounds like covert abuse or covert narcissism to me. Passive-aggression, gaslighting, financial abuse.

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