Woman Says Her Boyfriend Charged Her $3.23 For Food She Ate At His Mother's House
"This man was trying to charge me for a banana and a piece of Wonder Bread."
@maddyblythe / TikTok A woman stunned viewers after revealing an odd habit that her ex-boyfriend would do with her about money.
In a TikTok video, Maddy Blythe explained that when she was with her ex-boyfriend, he would often get extremely weird about money in the three years that they were together. As Blythe recalled the things her boyfriend would claim she owed him, many people were quick to point out the huge red flag.
Blythe shared that her boyfriend once charged her $3.23 for breakfast she ate at his mom's house.
At the start of Blythe's video, she explained that she had been seeing a series on the video-sharing app about women opening up about their partner's weird obsessions with money. The trend sparked Blythe to remember how her ex-boyfriend had been when it came to paying for things.
She recalled that while dating her then-boyfriend, the two of them had taken a trip to see his mother. Before the trip, Blythe made sure to bring along a gift basket to give since she would be staying at her home and wanted to be a good guest.
"The trip was fine, we mostly did our own thing, but we did eat with [his] mom for dinner one night and breakfast one morning," Blythe said, adding that she and her boyfriend ended up paying for the dinner since it was expensive and they wanted to treat his mom.
Once the two of them returned from the trip, Blythe received an email from her boyfriend with an Excel sheet of all their shared expenses from the trip.
"I did notice there was one line in the Excel document that I was kinda confused about," Blythe continued. "The line just said, breakfast for $3.23."
She decided to ask her boyfriend about the expense, and he told her it was for the banana and piece of toast that she had eaten at his mom's house for breakfast. He told her that she ate the food and now owed him and his mom the money.
"This man was trying to charge me for a banana and a piece of Wonder Bread," she said incredulously. Blythe admitted that she did end up paying him, but definitely regretted doing it.
Blythe claimed her boyfriend would send her an itemized spreadsheet every month of all the money she owed him.
In a follow-up video, Blythe responded to a comment where someone was flabbergasted that she would accept receiving an Excel spreadsheet of expenses from her boyfriend. She agreed that it was something she shouldn't have stood for.
"I just want to clarify I would not stand for this anymore but I definitely did for three years," she said, adding that she dug through her email to find the Excel spreadsheet her ex would send her.
She claimed he would send her the spreadsheet every month, listing off all of the expenses she owed him for things that he had paid for. The spreadsheet was color-coded, included notes from him explaining each expense, and was incredibly long.
Blythe pointed out that she would often pay for things too, and the two would go back and forth on determining the final amount that was owed. While she never accused her boyfriend of being abusive in any way, money control in relationships is usually a sign of financial and emotional abuse.
One partner may use strict financial control as a means to assert power and control over the other. This can involve monitoring and restricting the other person's spending, demanding an account of every penny spent, or making all financial decisions without input or consideration of the other person's needs or desires.
In the comments section, people pointed out how much of a 'red flag' her boyfriend had been.
"Three years? JAIL! For him, not you. You’re a saint for putting up with it," one TikTok user wrote. "Funny how he forgot things you paid for but was so detailed about what he spent."
Another user added, "I’m all about financial planning and sharing expenses but there’s something about the entire spreadsheet exchange being over email."
"There is one green flag. She gained 3 years of finance/accounting experience. Please add this to your resume and him as a reference!" a third user chimed in.
It's important to remember that healthy relationships are built on trust, respect, and open communication, including discussions about finances. Partners should work together as a team to manage their money, respecting each other's financial autonomy and making mutually beneficial decisions.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.