My girlfriend makes half again as much money as I do. It’s nice, but sometimes I feel strange because of the way I was raised - “the guy always pays” bit. Anyone else here have a girlfreind or wife who makes more money than you? Or any ladies make more than your boyfriend or husband? How do you feel about it?
In absolute terms, my girlfriend makes almost twice as much as me. But then again, I live in Amsterdam, and she lives in London. In pure purchase power, I’m probably slightly more wealthy than her.
Which explains why this guy still always pays 
Oh, and I forgot to add: I don’t care either way who makes more money. Just as long as she knows it’s all going to the Clog Boy Ferrari 512 BB Trust Fund.
Mrs Chance makes more than me. Almost always has. She earned degree in Business Admin/Econ whilst I found myself a History/Mass Comm sheepskin.
Twice in my life I’ve passed her (we’re both tech geeks) by a few thousand but within weeks she’s got a new job or a huge raise.
Right now she’s about 10% above me. It’s been much MUCH more from time to time. Doesn’t really bug me. It all goes into the same pot: the support the Chanceling diaper and play-time fund.
My long term SO (of 14 years, 2 months, 3 days, 12 hours, and 15 minutes but who’s counting?), when we first got together made much more than I did (as a single mom with primary custody of a toddler). He paid for nearly everything, took us to Chicago several times, etc (well, as a token gesture, I DID pay for my coat check once). Frankly, I felt funny about that. He was fine with it. Now, I’m making substantially more than him, (he went into business on his own). so for the first 9 years, he paid, for the next 5, I have. I’m fine with this, he still seems a bit funny. I think it has more to do with the sense of “not contributing” since we each felt the same kind of “leechy” ness factor. But, as I’m the one treating these times, I look upon it differently, that the contribution to the relationship is not merely a matter of money (too bad I didn’t figure this out back when he was treating in Chicago…)
for what it’s worth, I can understand the feeling, especially since I felt it as well, but on the other side of it (the female making more), it’s not an issue for me, and I figure we’ve got a nearly equal partnership going in the greater sense, so it doesn’t matter to me about the money part of it.
Oh, yes. Mrs. Trion makes more than I do. But not so much more that I can quit my job and spend my days loafing. Damn.
You bet she does. What would I want with some loser of a low-earner wife?
I grew up with three sisters, so I (over)heard the deathless parental line “It’s just as easy to marry a rich man as a poor one” frequently when I was a sprout. I just adapted for gender and took it to heart.
Not a chance. Of course, she no longer works. When she did, I made more than double her salary. It felt good.
I still had to do all the cooking, though.
Except for a few months, I’ve always made more money than my husband… But we both have direct deposit, so it’s just a pile of money in the bank account that I redistribute to our creditors. I think it kinda bugs him, but I didn’t marry him for his earning potential… I married him because he told me he had a boat. Ah, love…
I once lived with a GF who made more money than me. She made less when we first started dating. When we lived together, it all went into a common account to pay our expenses. I never gave the matter much thought.
They both do.
I would suggest that it might be easier to take the no-big-deal attitude as long as the family is not facing financial pressures. But to the extent that there is not enough money to go around, a guy not earning as much as his spouse/SO will feel like he is the loser who is causing the problems. And the spouse/SO may feel this way too.
This feeling would be less likely to occur in reverse if the man is earning more.
I make more than 30% more than my fiancé. This doesn’t seem to bother him much pride-wise; what bothers him is his school district pays considerably less than mine does. For example, we (that is, employees of my district) just got a letteer in the mail informing us we were getting a 9 1/2% raise; he got a letter telling him about the “exciting things” coming in the next school year. No mention of a raise. (Surely one is coming, however, because of an increase of funding the school received for such purposes.)
I make so much more because I have more education and more years of experience. In California, school district pay scales are set up in 5 columns and 10 rows. The columns are based on your amount of education (number of graduate units past your B.A.), the rows are based on the number of years teaching experience you have. I’m on column four, row four; he is on column one, row two. Once he completes the credential program he should be in column three and receive a substantial increase in pay.
I hope it doesn’t make him uncomfortable. I also have a car payment, student loans, and pay $500 more a month for rent than he does–so actual cash-in-hand is much more even.
Well, I am curious to see how this thread goes now…I’ll just sit back and watch. 
I’ve just about always made more than my mate. I say “just about” since my current SO now makes about half again what I make. 'twasn’t always this way - he was making less than me up until he stumbled onto high-paying dream job last December or so.
When I was married, I always made more than my husband. I’m a techie type, husband was (in order) a substitute teacher, a part-time teacher, a construction worker, a QA guy at a software company, and (finally) a programmer. I always made more than him because of years of experience in the business.
I don’t require my mate to make more than me (obviously) but I do find it easier to deal with when we’re at least in the same range. Things were weird between hubby & I when he was making 10K a year and I was making 40K. Actually, I prefer my current arrangement, when SO has gobs of money, and I’m making a pretty good rate myself. Still haven’t quite gotten used to having $$ left over when we pay the bills, though…
I make more than my SO – in fact, I support him. He’s a musician, an awesome musician, but he was always too tired to play (he worked a very physical job), so, because my job paid well enough to support both of us, I offered to support him on the condition that he actually work at his music and not sit around the house all day. I believe that creating art is a very important part of life/civilization/society and yet is often trivialized – so I feel that if society at large is not going to support artists, at least I should do what I am able to do. I feel that the contribution he could/should make the world is not in working nine-to-five, it’s in his musicianship. So, sometimes I feel a little frustrated that I have to work and he gets to play music all day, but when I watch him play, or listen to his recordings it’s worth it to me.
I think it makes him feel a little weird sometimes, but I don’t really know what to do about that. He’s also going to school to be a recording engineer, so soon he will be able to contribute to the finances.
My girlfriend earns about 35% more than I do but I still end up paying for her.
My gf makes about 20 percent more than I do. I’m totally fine with it. It just means I get more presents!
Over the years Mrs. Kunilou and I have bounced back and forth – currently she makes about 5K more than I. It’s never bothered either of us because, as noted, it all goes into a big pile and then goes back out to the kids.
However, some long-married friends of ours are going through some hard times right now, and the wife has complained that she’s always felt that she’s carried the husband. I’ve talked to several other wives who felt the same way – it’s not a problem as long as they both work, but if the husband gets laid off or something the wife begins to resent that not only was she always the primary earner, but now she has to pull all the load. That doesn’t seem to be as big an issue with the couples I’ve know where the wife got laid off or went to part-time.
I make about twice as much as hubby. My goal is to make enough for him to stay home and raise babylee.
For the first 3 years, i had no income and he supported me. He still had to do the dishes. Now, he does all the housework,but that is not based on income.
I worked while hubby finished school, so the only $ he brought in was students loans, which we are now paying back at an ungodly rate… Thanks hon…
I currently make more than he does as well, because he’s not working. When he is, that expensive education really pays off because he makes nearly double what I make.
I know plenty of guys who say that they wouldn’t be able to handle a woman making more $ than they do. But what do they do if times get tough? Leave?