Chip Chick
After going out for a year, this 29-year-old man dumped his girlfriend, Lisa, 28. He ended their relationship because he was concerned about his girlfriend’s spending and debt. His family was in poverty during his childhood, so he paid for college with scholarships.
While in school, he had wonderful mentors who helped him network. He earned his Ph.D. in an impressive field, and now he is earning a great living and is financially stable. Since he’s experienced poverty, he has been careful with his spending.
A year ago, he and Lisa matched on a dating app. Lisa was gorgeous, intelligent, and charismatic. Their relationship had been going smoothly, and they hardly argued. He and Lisa also had a lot of common values.
Lisa was stylish and had a good eye, which helped him because he had no idea what looked good clothing-wise or while decorating his apartment. Lisa gave him fashion tips to update his outfits and ideas for how to jazz up his apartment.
Because her lease ended in several months, he suggested she move in with him. She was thrilled and accepted his offer. But before moving their relationship forward, they agreed to talk about their finances.
“Two weeks ago, we sat down, and I made an Excel sheet to decide how we were planning to pay for stuff. I knew I made significantly more than her, and I offered we pay proportionally, which she happily agreed to. For that purpose, I asked her how much she makes, and it was lower than I would have anticipated based on her lifestyle,” he said.
He questioned how she could buy luxury handbags and take extravagant trips with her income. Lisa looked humiliated and explained that she had $20,000 of credit card debt.
He’d already been aware of her student loan debt, which didn’t concern him, but the credit card debt was new information. After learning about that, it became clear that Lisa spent more money than she had, with no idea how she’d pay off the debt.
During their conversation, Lisa assured him that if she moved in with him, she’d be better able to pay off her debt since she’d pay less in monthly expenses. She predicted that she could pay off all the debt in a year but added that she couldn’t be listed on the lease since she had a bad credit history.
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