Couple Agrees On A $100 Christmas Gift Limit, So When Her Husband’s Gift Pushed Way Beyond The Boundary She Refused To Accept It
by Diana Whelan
After 25 years of marriage, this couple agreed to cap their Christmas spending at $100 each.
But when the husband gifts his wife a high-end microwave and stove worth well over $100, she refuses to accept them.
Despite their practical need, she insists the gifts go against their agreed budget.
Now, he’s upset, claiming she’s ungrateful.
Read on for the rest!
AITA for not accepting my husband’s expensive Christmas gift?
I (42 F) and my husband (43 M) have been together for about 25 years now.
Our wedding anniversary is even Christmas Day!
So, to put it simply, I love Christmas!
This year will be our first Christmas as empty nesters.
Our child has flown the coop and so I said that I would like to keep Christmas small.
I’ve got multiple chronic illnesses and over the years the work of making Christmas magical has gotten more and more difficult.
How bittersweet!
So, both of us agreed a week ago to cap the total amount spent on each other at $100, so the gifts would be just regular things we like.
I sent him an Amazon wishlist and additional shops with items to choose from.
I’m also disabled and have limited income, so $100 is the maximum I could do.
My husband sometimes gives me an allowance for gas and food but it depends on his mood.
Today is Black Friday.
I left the house to try and find some deals I could afford for Christmas.
My husband doesn’t give me a list, but that’s okay because I know what he likes and what his clothing size is, so I can just shop for him.
25 years is enough time to know that guy’s preferences.
I just returned, and there’s a big box covered with a blanket in the living room.
My husband was super excited and said that this was my Christmas gift.
He wanted me to open it now, because there’s something that goes with it that he still needs to order but it’s only on sale today and he wants my input on which one to pick.
So…I “unwrapped” my Christmas gift to find a….
Microwave oven.
Didn’t know a $100 microwave existed.
It’s a very nice Microwave.
It’s a built in that we will need to install.
And our microwave broke last week, so I’m glad to get a replacement at Black Friday prices.
The “matching” gift is a stove from the same brand.
There’s 2 options on sale.
Our stove element is going out and my husband already rejected fixing the part because the stove is so old.
It’s a very nice stove.
My husband is very happy.
He said I can now get back to cooking at home.
And how now he doesn’t need to bother with any more shopping or wrapping gifts, both things he dislikes.
I told him that I was glad he saved money on things we needed to replace but I was not accepting this as my Christmas gift.
We can call it the anniversary gifts, as those are usually larger items we buy together that we both use (think TVs and such) and we often shop together on Black Friday for those gifts… but the limit for Christmas is $100, not $3000+.
Rules are rules.
My husband got upset when I said I wasn’t accepting the microwave and stove for Christmas.
He said I’m ungrateful and just want more stuff from him because I can’t buy it for myself.
He said he should just return everything since I don’t give a care about the work he put into giving me something nice.
Then he went upstairs to his office and hasn’t come back down, even when I made breakfast.
AITA for not accepting his gifts?
They are nice and we do need them.
Should I apologize so we keep them, because we do need them?
He put in effort and thought the gift was meaningful, but it clearly didn’t match their expectations or their budget.
Now, he’s feeling hurt, and she’s questioning if she should have just accepted the gifts.
Well, Reddit certainly did NOT side with hubs.
This person says first of all, that’s not even a gift.
This person thinks Hubby needs a talking to.
And this person is in full name-calling mode.
It’s hard to feel appreciated when the “thoughtful” gift feels more like a loophole than a gesture of love.
You’d think he’d understand that after 25 years of marriage.
If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.
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