When you’re single, you can spend your money as well or as rashly as you like. Once you get married, finances are often split between couples, and your partner can also decide how the cash is used. That’s why when two people with different spending habits come together, it can sometimes lead to a clash.

This is exactly what happened when a do-gooder wife decided to spend some of her money helping her sister in need. Her penny-pinching husband fumed at her decision and tried his best to get her to stop.

More info: Reddit

Husband tries to dissuade wife from buying $9 burgers every week from her pregnant sister when there are cheaper options available, feels it’s not their job to help her

Image credits: Marta Dzedyshko (not the actual photo)

The poster shared that his 33-year-old sister-in-law started selling burgers to earn extra money after she realized she was pregnant and would have to be a single mom

Image credits: Thiago Rebouças (not the actual photo)

His wife decided to help out her sister by patronizing her burger business weekly, she spent $45 of her own money on 5 burgers for her children and husband

Image credits: stefamerpik (not the actual photo)

The husband was annoyed by his wife’s decision because he felt that she could make the same burgers at home for cheaper and also that it wasn’t their “job to support her sister” 

Image credits: Still_Elk424

He kept pestering her to stop spending money, so she got mad at him and stopped buying a burger for him instead, but he still did not realize his mistake 

Nobody would expect a couple of burgers to put a dent in someone’s marriage, but it looks like these 5 burgers did the trick. The husband in question shared that he and his wife could comfortably afford to buy his SIL’s food, but he still wanted to go for something cheaper. He felt that since the burger recipe was his MIL’s, his wife could easily replicate it and save them a lot of cash.

The wife’s whole purpose in spending money was to help her sister, who was saving for her upcoming baby. Despite telling her husband repeatedly that she wanted to support her sister, he did not seem to understand her point of view. He was unsympathetic to his SIL’s plight and stated that it wasn’t their job to help her out.

This kind of money drama might seem petty, but it’s actually more common among couples than you’d imagine. A survey by Bread Financial found that 64% of people in romantic relationships feel that they’re financially incompatible with their partner. Meaning that they clearly have different philosophies about spending, saving, and investing money.

In relationships like this, where one partner is trying to control how the other spends money, it can lead to financial infidelity. That’s when one spouse tries to keep their expenses or savings secret from the other. Luckily, in this case, the wife didn’t resort to sneaking around to support her sister. She simply left her husband out of the tasty burger haul in the hopes of teaching him a lesson.

Image credits: Valeria Boltneva (not the actual photo)

The husband’s agitation over his wife’s spending might make some sense if she took cash from their joint account. But she had been using her own money to get the burgers, and many netizens were shocked at the guy’s audacity to tell her how to spend her own savings. That’s also why financial experts are divided about whether couples should have joint accounts or not. Some state that having a separate savings account can cause resentment if one partner’s purchases seem over the top.

Couples with different spending habits might also struggle to agree on how they spend their cash. That’s why more experienced partners say the best way to do this is to decide on a cash approval limit. So, if the limit is $100, when one person wants to buy something above that limit, both partners should have a say in it.

Money is a sensitive issue, and just because you’re married doesn’t mean it suddenly becomes an easy topic to discuss. Experts say it’s extremely important to avoid blaming one another and to approach the discussion with empathy. People’s spending habits often originate from their childhood, and it’s best to take the time to understand what motivates one’s partner to spend the way they do.

The husband did none of those things. Instead, he kept forcing his wife to curb her burger expenses and cook up a batch at home. People were annoyed by his stubbornness and pointed out that his wife probably wanted to relax and eat something fancy once in a while. She also wanted to do something nice and support her sister. Hopefully, the OP’s silence in the comments section indicates that he learned his lesson.

What would you have done if you were in the wife’s place? 

Annoyed netizens bashed the poster and told him to drop the issue

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