Just a question to see if other couples experience the same issue:
My husband and I have some milestone events coming up (anniversaries and birthday). We are both working and are not struggling financially. He is fairly conservative with money, though, and while I’m not a spendthrift, I’m more relaxed with spending in comparison.
I was thinking about getting some jewelry to commemorate the aforementioned events, but at pricier stores (think Cartier, Tiffany’s, etc.). He’s fine to get me one item, but I also asked if he’d mind if I got myself something extra (on my own tab).
He seemed bothered by that because of the extra expense (the total of everything would be around ~$5K) and pointed out that I already have other jewelry items that I rarely wear. (And I don’t know if reselling them would bring in good prices.) In the end, he said that I can buy something more for myself if I want, but still—I feel very, very guilty.
While we are financially stable (no debts, mortgage, loans, etc.), I recognize that my spouse grew up in poverty, so I do want to respect his own feelings about major non-practical spending.
I’m just wondering if there are other folks out there who have uncomfortable discussions around jewelry/luxury purchases with their significant other? How do you manage these issues?
(Mods, I hope this post is okay here—if it needs to be shifted elsewhere, please let me know.)