When money gets tight, couples tend to either pull together or drift apart.

A young couple faced a government shutdown that left them working without pay, so one man was struggling to make every dollar count.

But when his wife started splurging on expensive groceries for her family, he worried they weren’t on the same page at all.

Read on for the full story.

AITA for being extremely frugal

Me (22M) and my wife (20F) are currently being affected by the government shutdown.

We are not getting paid but are being forced to work.

They’re treading water, but there’s no end in sight right now.

We have enough money to cover bills and rent through November but not quite enough for December.

The way it’s looking, this shutdown will last at least a few more weeks but could go into the new year. We absolutely cannot make it to January with the money we currently have.

He understands that they’re going to have to make every dollar count.

We do have roughly 10K we could use on credit cards but will also have to make payments and be charged interest, so that will dwindle fast — especially if this stretches into December.

We were just at the grocery store, and she was purchasing food to make dinner for her parents and three other siblings in celebration of her mother’s birthday.

So he was surprised by his wife’s complete lack of frugality.

I didn’t necessarily have an issue with this until I started to see everything she was purchasing.

I estimated roughly $200 in ingredients.

This didn’t make me mad, but I became extremely anxious, overwhelmed, and scared.

I have been doing my best to make the most out of our money and stretch it as far as we can.

But when he tried to steer them back on course, his wife freaked out.

I then took the one thing out of the cart for me, which was roughly $12, and returned it to the shelf.

This ticked her off, and she was extremely upset that she spent roughly ten minutes reassuring me that we’d be fine and that she felt as if I overreacted.

On our drive home, she told me that I was being dramatic and needed to chill out.

I then became extremely frustrated that my worries were being unaccounted for.

AITA?

It doesn’t sound like this couple is on the same page at all about their financial situation.

What did Reddit have to say?

This couple needs to realign on their expectations as soon as possible.

This could be a very long road ahead, so they need to be smart about it.

Now really isn’t the best time to sign up to make huge meals like this.

When the going gets tough, you have to get tougher.

If this couple is going to weather this storm, they’re going to have to do it together.

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