‘I snuck out of a restaurant as my family demanded I pay the whole bill – I was livid’

A woman has been left seething after her in-laws demanded she pay for their dinner during a trip to a restaurant – and called her ‘pathetic’ when she walked out

Money can be a contentious subject for many families, and when it comes to going out for meals or trips to the cinema, the decision of who steps up to pay for the outing can cause arguments.

And that’s exactly what happened to one woman after her family demanded she pay the entire bill when they went out for dinner recently, but didn’t think to ask her beforehand if she would be okay with treating them all to a nice meal.

The woman explained she had come into some inheritance money after her mother passed away, but she has been keeping the cash in a separate savings account as she hasn’t decided how she wants to use it yet.

But her husband isn’t happy with her decision to save it, and has been “making countless suggestions” of ways she could spend it, as well as asking her to pay for “nearly everything” they’ve bought over the past few weeks.

The 32-year-old woman and her husband went out for dinner over the weekend with his family to celebrate New Year’s Eve, and while the woman thought they’d all be chipping in to foot the bill, she realised the truth when her husband’s mum made a joke about her “inheritance pocket”.

In a post on Reddit, she said: “I recently inherited a good amount of money from my mum. I’m keeping the money in a separate account as I still haven’t decided what to do with it and I don’t want it to go to waste.

“I noticed my husband constantly bringing up the inheritance money and making countless suggestions as to how I should spend it. Another thing is that he expects me to pay for nearly everything in the past couple of weeks.

“For New Year’s Eve, my husband and I met up with his family at a restaurant to celebrate. It was going fine until I found out that I was expected to pay for everyone at the table. My husband’s mum joked about paying for dinner out of my ‘inheritance pocket’, which made me livid but I showed no reaction.”

Refusing to pay for the dinner after it was sprung on her with no notice, the woman decided to sneakily pay for the food and drinks she had ordered before walking out of the restaurant – leaving her husband and his family to pay for the rest.

She added: “I just silently paid for my own food/drinks, then got up and made my way out of the restaurant. They were shouting after me like a crowd and my husband tried to get me to come back but I drove home.

“He got back at 3 am and started yelling at me, saying I was pathetic to get up and walk out on him and his family after they relied on me to pay for their food and thought I was gracious enough to do it.

“He said I humiliated him and his family. He is mad and is saying that I caused a huge rift between his family and me when it wouldn’t have hurt me to pay for the celebratory dinner.”

Commenters on the post were firmly on the woman’s side, with many saying her husband and his family were being insensitive for expecting her to use her inheritance money for their benefit.

One person said: “No one ever has the right to expect someone else to pick up the tab, especially if it wasn’t agreed to upfront. Your inheritance is no one’s business. You don’t owe anyone anything. Your husband and in-laws are shameful.”

While another added: “Your husband and in-laws are attempting to capitalise on your mother’s death. Keep the inheritance. Ditch the people who think you’re a walking ATM.”

And a third wrote: “They act like you won the lottery and not buried your mother. I’m sorry for your loss.”

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