LOL. You may be right. She's not ordinarily spendy, and I really love her a lot, but she's being ridiculously pig-headed about this. Apparently pets are her weakness. I do not want a dog at all. I don't want the responsibility and financial liability right now, and in a few years when I first retire I definitely do not want the responsibility. I want some period in my life where I'm completely free of daily, geographically-anchoring obligations. She doesn't seem to appreciate this, and it's now come out that she doubts if my retiring will "ever happen". (Or won't happen soon enough, or something. She is not mathematically inclined, to the point where she refuses to even look at my numbers or try to understand what I'm saying, so she doesn't seem to understand that "failing" would mean I retire in 9 or 10 years instead of 8.)lilacorchid wrote:And not to be a wet blanket, but if your girlfriend is a spendy pet-person and you are not, she may not be the droid you are looking for. I hope you two can come to a happy solution for the both of you!
The relationship is in bad shape at the moment. I think she's being really childish. I've offered multiple compromises, like 1) if it must be a puppy, waiting until we have kids (and are already tied down, like JP said), or 2) if it must be right now, getting/rescuing an older dog (nearer the end of its lifespan) so it's not as lengthy a commitment, or 3) just doing pet-sitting, dog-walking, or volunteering at a shelter to get the same doggie fix but for free, or net income. I feel like any of these is a sacrifice for me, as I'd rather have no dog. She, on the other hand, won't budge an inch or offer any concession whatsoever. It's Jack Russell puppy or bust.
I don't want to lose hope, I really like her, but things aren't looking good. I never would've expected a (hypothetical) dog could undo a relationship. Sigh.
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At least all this has come up before she actually moved in. Eh, in retrospect, it's probably childish of me to even post all this, but I need ERE commiseration badly.