Okay y’all… I think we all know that marriage is hard. And when you add kids into the mix, things can get wayyyyy more complicated.

And what happens to most marriages? They end. And then you have to co-parent. And that can be VERY hard.

This woman and her ex did just that and have to share responsibilities raising a 4-year-old son.

Here’s the thing… she was raised with a very “cheap” mom, and her ex was not. In fact, his family was wealthy.

And now… the fun begins…

AITA for making my son live “cheaply”?

I honestly can’t believe I’m posting this but here we go…

So, my ex gives me a generous amount of child support every month and I use about 20-30% of it maybe. I’m very good at budgeting since my mum raised me on her own and we always stuck to a strict budget.

My ex grew up being overindulged and knowing he would never have to worry about money in his lifetime, so we have different ideas of what living cheaply looks like.

Recently my ex wanted to have a word with me because he didn’t like the fact that I made our son walk home from school. He wanted to know why I wouldn’t buy a car and offered me money to get one when I told him cars were expensive and I thought it was a waste of money. I told him no since I would rarely use it.

He then told me to take an uber home instead of making him walk.

Again, I told him no and he brought up all of the other ways he thought I was making our son “live cheaply”. For example: I didn’t buy him new football boots or a goal when he started getting into football (he is only 4).

I buy him “cheap” clothes, I rarely take him to eat out and if we go to a toy shop, I only ever let him get one thing and it can’t be super expensive.

My ex wanted to know what I was using all of the money he gave to me on if I was raising our son like this, so I explained I never used most of it but kept it in a separate account for either a rainy day or for our son.

Now he’s angry at me for making our son “live cheaply” and essentially told me to stop saving and actually give our son the things he wants now because he had already made sure our son would be fine in the future.

AITA?

So… who’s right?

Reddit sounds off!

The top comment is not kind…

Another person says that saving isn’t a bad idea. And she’s not necessarily wrong.

And besides… this kid is SET.

And while some of these folks didn’t like what the mom did… some disagreed.

Last note on this… just because the dad says everything is covered… it doesn’t make it 100% true.

My thoughts… her being frugal is never a bad idea.

Teaching a kid to live within their means or even below their means will make sure they know the value of a dollar.

And that could be one of the most important lessons they ever learn.