Financial arrangement while dating?
What should I expect while dating when it comes to how much each person pays for gifts, food, shopping trips? Should the man pay for the first date, or should it be the one who asks out?
At what time in the relationship does taking turns or splitting dinner bills come in to play? What happens if a partner is counting every penny? Or doesn’t pay for anything because they are students, disabled, or have simply have no ambition to work?
How do you know if a person is setting reasonable limits vs. simply not wanting to spend any money on you that they would rather spend on themselves?
For context, I was dumped a month ago. During the relationship, I was expected to pay for half of our dinner dates. We would sometimes shop together and he would pick out things for me but we would pay for things separately.
I would buy gifts for him but he rarely did the same. He was making a pretty good living and planning to purchase a fancy car that he couldn’t actually afford at that time no matter how much he saved. I was a disabled college student, living off my parents. I thought our arrangement was fair but eventually, it felt like he didn’t want to spend anything on me he didn’t have to.
Like I wasn’t worth a $15 meal sometimes. That this car thing was more important than me. And I guess I was proven right because he eventually dumped me. Should I have different expectations over money next time? I don’t want to be made to feel like a financial burden. I want a more casual approach that is still financially fair to both people. I also feel that because of my current situation I cannot afford a stingy boyfriend.
If it’s 50/50 and he chooses to go to the pricier restaurant, that’s not really worth it for me because I want my money to go to my pets first, I can’t afford to eat that money if I have animal food and vet bills to pay.