Is It WRONG For A Man’s Wallet Size To Matter?
No doubt today’s subject is controversial and uncomfortable for some…but I’m fielding these questions anyway: Does how much a man earns at his job affect your decision to date him or continue dating him? Or do you find such a concept offensive, shallow, and/or insulting to the meaning of True Love?
After asking a few divorcing girlfriends for their honest thoughts on this matter, this was what I heard:
“Money shouldn’t make any difference. Love is all that matters and together, you can build something new.”
“I’m accustomed to a certain lifestyle from being married and yes, I’d like to maintain that…”
“The bottom line is that I’m swimming in the enormity of my responsibilities right now. So if a man can’t help us out financially, in a way he just becomes one more person to do laundry and cook for.”
“Underneath it all, I want to know he can take care of me and the children financially. Not that I won’t contribute too; and not that he has to be a millionaire. But as un-feminist as it sounds, I like it when a man can do more than live from paycheck to paycheck.”
Of the opinions I heard, two things were very clear: First, this was a highly personal and sensitive subject. The fear of being judged as ‘superficial’ was great. As one friend put it, “If I say that money IS important, everyone assumes I’m a gold-digger and I’m not. I just don’t want to invite more hardship or complications into my life.”
Second, it was obvious that many personal factors had molded my friends’ unique opinions: ie, whether they were moms/non-mothers, whether they’d maintained solid careers throughout their marriages or not, whether their hearts had been broken by infidelity, whether money had been an issue while married, etc.
So I’m putting the question out to you. Does the size of a man’s wallet matter to you as you date again or not? Why? My objective is not to start a war but to table an important issue that we all have feelings about, even if we don’t voice them aloud – for whatever reaon. Feel free to comment anonymously if you want.
13 comments
If a man isn’t financially viable, I want nothing to do with him. I expect the same from a man I date that I expect for myself. He needs to be passionate about his career, he needs to be able to show that he has excelled at what he does…no better judge of that than how much money he earns.
I don’t want to be taken care of and I don’t want to take care of a man. If he is my age and makes $20,000 a year I’m not interested. Who would be interested in a middle aged man who is satisfied with so little financial security?
It is about a good credit score, money in the bank to pay the bills with some left over for fun. Pride in who he is, what he does and how much he earns.
Those are my “deal breakers” and if that makes me shallow I’ll own it.
I’m not back out there yet…but I think he would need to be able to contribute…However, I was never the kind of girl who needed to have a lot of stuff…
I can’t wait to see what my heart falls for…Cause it’s been a crap shoot al lmy life! LOL
I think financial responsibility is definitely something that should be considered when finding a mate. I left a marriage after a bankruptcy that could have been avoided had he been on the “team” as far as finances. I never ever want to have to fight about finances with anyone again, so I am picky. If a guy has a mountain of debt why in the heck would I want to take that on? and vice versa. I don’t need a millionaire but someone who is sensible with their money.
My ex was a big spender during our marriage and beleive me, we weren’t rich! What resulted was a lot of sleepless nights worrying over how we’d afford his ‘sudden purchases’ not to mention a lot of arguments and hostiliy in our marriage.
For sure, I want any man I date longer term to earn a decent wage AND to be SENSIBLE with his spending! Like your friend said, why invite more hardship or complications into my life? Been there, DONE that, moving on!
Financial responsibility and stability are important to me.
I don’t plan on remarrying, getting financially entangled with anyone or even living with a partner again, but it’s important to me that anyone I date have the financial means to do things that we both enjoy, and pay for their portion of it.
I like eating out, I like travelling, I like going to the opera and doing other fun things. It’s kind of important to me that my partner be able to do these things with me without expecting that I always pay for everything. I don’t expect my partner to pay for everything either; there should be balance and a certain level of financial independence.
And should I change my mind in the future and find a partner that I wanted to share a home and finances with, damned right financial stability is going to be important. I don’t need someone who will bleed me dry or who can’t contribute to a household.
I don’t need the people I date to be wealthy or able to lavish me with gifts. I do need them to be financially capable of getting out and enjoying things that are important to me.
Love is great, but it takes a hell of a lot more than just love to build a functional relationship.
As my mother has told me a million times, she married for love it didn’t work out, she married for money and it didn’t last. What I know for sure is both love and money at the beginning of your relationship and love and money 10yrs into a marriage are BOTH different. If I can add to Adlina’s last line of, “Love is great, but it takes a hell of a lot more than just love to build a functional relationship”, Money is also great, but it takes a hell of a lot more than just money to build a functional relationship. One of the biggest factors in a relationship is RESPECT, love and money fit into and show themselves in how a person RESPECTS themselves which of course spills over into how they respect their parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, lovers, and children. Then their wallets, bank accounts, property, and on and on. Both love and money come and go, and sometimes for good reason. If all you are looking at is his wallet size you might miss the best part of him. Just as men out there are looking at single mom’s with 2-3kids and saying is this just going to be extra mouths to feed?! Let’s face it, your CURRENT in this moment, life situation doesn’t have anything to do with if your sitting across the table from a man who has a big wallet, or even a big heart because we can all be just as stupid with our love as our money, but I think we should ask ourselves is this man sitting across the table from me TRUSTWORTHY? We can all get by in life at different times with a little bit of money(in our 20s), a lot of money(first job & no kids), a little bit of love(going through a divorce), alot of love(your wedding day), but we can’t make it through life without honesty and trust-. So, that’s what I think-if you can find an HONEST, TRUSTWORTHY, man- you can trust the money that is in his wallet will always be enough to contribute to your life and take care of you.
Wow. Thanks for the warnings, goldiggers, I mean, ladies.
There’s a big reason why we men know enough to stay single here in North America, and you’ve all laid it out in spades.
mjaybee, you didn’t even read the responses to the post. If you did read them you’ve got a severe problem comprehending what you read. Read the comments again and think real hard, maybe the second time around it will get through.
Mjaybee, I would hope you would want the same in a woman….not someone who has lots of debt and isn’t responsible with her money. I think it goes both ways.
Bravo to the comments I have read! Very insightful. You need a combination of both, love and financial commitment with honesty and respect! I don’t want to take care of a partner financially at this point in my life after 18 years of marriage and still raising two kids. I started a business and managed it for 15 years with him. Never took a paycheck, he basically felt he could kick me to the curb without any money ties to me. My ex stated during counseling prior to our divorce “I don’t feel I need to financially provide for her if we aren’t having sex”. So I guess I am a hooker? I then filed for divorce. We all barter to some point in our relationships. But if they are looking for an exchange of sex for money, then someone better have a fat wallet. It disgusts me to even think of the mindset of someone like that. I will take care of myself and my children thank you very much….but I will never lower my standards, morals and financially take care of another man again. Amen!
@ Judy
“I don’t feel I need to financially provide for her if we aren’t having sex”.
I am speechless. What a JERK!
I won’t give a man who is not financially successful a glance after what I have been through. Once you have been sued for alimony and child support by a guy others see as a wonderful, church volunteering, boy scout leader who could not bring home a pay check because “money isn’t everything” – you’ll get it. He’s all yours!
mjaybee wrote:
>>Wow. Thanks for the warnings, goldiggers, I mean, ladies. There’s a big reason why we men know enough to stay single here in North America, and you’ve all laid it out in spades.mjaybee, you didn’t even read the responses to the post. If you did read them you’ve got a severe problem comprehending what you read. Read the comments again and think real hard, maybe the second time around it will get through.<<
Cathy, I believe that mjaybee has every right to disagree with the perspectives which were read – including yours. The fact that mjaybee did not agree with, and in fact very lucidly disagreed with you and those like you, is every bit the right of mjaybee.
I think you retort was a little more than telling about the bitter disposition which mjaybee found so disagreeable to start with.
But I am a successful businessman making lots of cash and choosing to stay single, so what they hell do I know – right?
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