How should finances be handled between those in dating relationships?
It’s no secret that there is a major student debt problem in the United States, and for this very reason, most young people struggle as they are making their way through their higher education.
The total student debt in the US is an incredible $1.6 trillion, and with the average tuition of one year of high education sitting at $9,375 per year for public schools and $35,852 per year for private schools—on top of living costs—it’s not too hard to imagine this being the case.
These realities have been highlighted in a recent online post in which a young woman refuses to split rent with her boyfriend, resulting in a massive fight between the two.
How should finances be handled between those in dating relationships?
A Reddit post published on September 16, reported on by Taylor McCloud from Newsweek, has gone viral with an impressive 21,900 upvotes and 5,900 comments.
The author starts by clarifying that she and her boyfriend are in the last year of their undergraduate degree and are currently renting an apartment together. The pair split their expenses completely down the middle, such as groceries, utilities and rent.
With that said, both of them recently were able to get jobs in Chicago, which is the same city where her father owns a property. He made the incredible offer to let her live there rent-free. However, he still expects the author’s boyfriend to pay some form of rent—at a discounted rate of $400— as a way to ensure that his daughter’s boyfriend was with her for the right reasons, and not simply so that he could live at a place for free.
The author goes on to clarify that if her father were to rent out this same property, he would be able to get $2,100 per month for it, so the couple is getting a very good deal from her dad, even with the amount of rent he’s requested.
Should dating couples always split everything down the middle, regardless of the context?
While this is arguably a great deal, the author’s boyfriend is mad about being expected to pay any form of rent when his girlfriend gets to live there for free. For this reason, he’s asked the author to pay for half of the expected rent, thus $200 per person. She refused this immediately, making it very clear that she would not be paying any form of rent.
She then goes on to add the context in her post that their current rent in their college town is $1,200 per month, thus they’re both paying $600 each. Whereas their new apartment in Chicago is much nicer, and her boyfriend will be paying $200 less than before.
What do you think? Is the author justified in refusing to split rent with her boyfriend, considering they’re already getting a great deal by living at her dad’s property? Or should she honor their deal to split everything 50/50, meaning that for any cost they incur they should pay half regardless of what one of them is saving?
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