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My mom was a depression baby. Her ethic was" a bargain was good under any circumstances." At MacDonalds, her idea of a splurge was a small hamburger and a glass of water.
I realized in my 30s that she was just incapable of understanding a different point of view on money. It was a waste to talk about it. Our life together was so much better after I stopped telling her the truth about how much anything cost.
In general I am pathologically truthful with everyone. I generally don't do the type of insignificant lies that are social lubricants. Yet it just worked so much better to under report by 2/3s to her. It was a choice I made to make our time together focused on something pleasant and meaningful rather than unpleasant.
Telling the truth presumes the other person is capable of respecting your choices and that there is something of value to be gained by examining your differences.
My mother passed away 2 years ago. I am glad my mother was the way she was and I am the way I am. When she passed away, all that money she saved on bargains she left to me and it funds my retirement. My memories of her are pleasant after the point that I accepted her limitations.
Just consider this another viewpoint on lying that comes from a pathologically honest person.
I'm the same way with telling the truth and this is something very interesting you've given me to think about. Thank you.
It's a terribly rude question. I would not satisfy nosy curiosity or thinly disguised envy or hostility. I'd say something like,
"Thanks for noticing my bag. I do enjoy it."
Two answers depending on their demeanor when they asked (i.e. likely genuinely interested versus being rude):
(1) "I don't remember, but I bought it at XXXX place." This allows them to find out if they're really interested.
(2) "How much do you weigh?" or some other equally rude comment so that they can see how rude their comment was.
#2 is a winner.
I do not dodge the question I just inform the person that it is none of there business and I do not care who is asking - my husband, my mother or my mother-in-law. The reason for this is that I work hard and it is my money to spend and as long as my child is well taken care of and my bills are paided no one needs to know what I spend on or how much..
... all she heard once was a Coach bag cost me $200
Okay so I'm still spazzing out from the conversation of how I'm overspending on handbags from my aunt.
Until it actually happened to me, I never knew how bad it feels to be criticized for being a designer bag collector. The person criticizing asked me no less than 15 years ago what bag I was carrying. I had told her Coach and it was a gift from dh. Well, 15 years later, she brought it up and started biatching about my spending habits.
The only advice I have now for everyone is to dodge it every which way, just never mention how much one pays. It becomes a real issue for others and it can come up at any time in the future as a way to attack or put one in their place. I definitely felt she kept this information as some kind of ammunition -- very weird. People just have issues, no matter how much they imagine they have control over how we run our own affairs.
I just need to let it drop -- but for goodness sakes, she's messing with my handbag love!!!![]()