Hey everyone,
I need to get some perspective from you guys because I'm genuinely trying to make sense of the dating scene here.
I’ve lived abroad for most of my life, so I didn't date much within our community until I came back. Since I returned, things have just felt a bit weird on the relationship front. To be honest, it feels super transactional.
Don't get me wrong, girls abroad like gifts and nice dates too. That’s normal. But here, the expectation just feels totally different. In my recent relationships, I constantly feel like I'm buying love. It's direct cash requests for everything: money for hair, money for nails, money just because they’re going out with friends, or just random requests for cash. Back when I had a white girlfriend abroad, offering cash as a gift was actually weird to her. Here, if you aren't sending cash, it's like you aren't doing anything.
Just recently, I had a discussion with my current girlfriend where she literally told me she doesn't feel loved because I don't give her money enough. Which blew my mind because I actually do, and I'm always taking her out to nice places.
This was her exact text to me
"I love money first. Well, everyone loves money, but not in a bad way. I really like when someone is attentive, like doing something I didn't ask for, as if you're reading my mind (which will be hard for you). And when you do lots of surprise gifts for me, that reassures me. Being told words of love isn't enough for me, you have to prove it."
To make matters worse, she even claimed at one point that I don't give her anything at all. Standard-wise, I'm 24 and she's 22. Anytime wey we see, I go drop like ₦70,000 to ₦90,000 for her, and anytime we meet, I must drop at least ₦30,000 for her transport fare. If she dey talk say she need airtime, I go send like ₦70,000. The highest amount I don give her at once na around ₦200,000 because she talk say she wan buy wig.
Honestly, I really struggle to just hand over cash for no specific reason because it literally feels like I'm buying her affection. But after all this, she still dey talk say "I no dey give her anything." I no even know wetin to do again, and I no know wetin be the "acceptable" standard budget for dating here.
At this point, I'm just confused. I feel like if she’s my girlfriend, making her happy is normal. But where is the line between a real relationship and just paying for a "girlfriend experience"?
I don't want to bash the whole community because I know everyone isn't the same. Maybe there's a cultural shift I'm missing, or maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.
For anyone who's dated here and abroad, is this hyper-financialized dynamic just the default now? How do you guys set boundaries without looking like a stingy guy?