Mom Blasted for Asking Restaurant to Heat Up Dinner She Brought From Home

A penny-pinching mom has gone under the microscope after her concerned husband revealed how her cost-cutting behavior ended up ruining their son's birthday.

In a post shared to Reddit's "Am I The A**hole?" forum, the worried dad detailed how his wife recently "started wanting to save money."

But while it always pays to watch the pennies, it would appear she has been taking things to the extreme, much to the frustration of her husband and two kids. For example, she recently cut the children's allowance from $10 a week to just $3.

However, according to her husband, the mom's most extreme cost-cutting measure emerges when the family goes out for meals together.

"She will buy meals to bring to the restaurant to be microwaved," he explained. "We have gotten looks before and it's always turned down. It results in her making a fuss and we'll be asked to leave."

Her husband said he has spoken to her and "told her that she needs to stop" and is free to order "whatever she wants."

Unfortunately, his words appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

During a trip out to their son's "favorite steakhouse" for his birthday, he said he specifically asked his wife "not to bring any of her meals along to the restaurant."

She initially appeared to go along with the idea. They arrived, sat down and ordered drinks. At that point, his wife excused herself to "use the bathroom." Her husband thought nothing of it.

A waiter returned soon after and took their orders with his wife choosing a "small salad." However, minutes later, one of the table staff was back with a meal none of them had ordered.

They then proceeded to tell the man's wife "ma'am, we can't warm this up for you." It quickly became evident she had sneaked off to speak to the kitchen staff about heating up another meal. The husband said his two kids were left "embarrassed" by the incident and he was forced to "apologize" for her behavior.

According to the post, his wife then proceeded to stay "silent" for the rest of the meal and "wouldn't touch the salad she ordered." Later that evening, the husband said he and his wife argued over the debacle but she remained unrepentant, telling him "eating out is a waste."

The dad said he has now decamped to the spare room, with his wife viewing his reaction as unreasonable. Yet many on Reddit felt he had every right to be concerned.

Squinky75 commented: "She sounds mentally unwell. Has she had a physical exam lately? This behavior is not normal." Riley125, meanwhile, theorized that she may "have some debt that she doesn't want to talk about and is trying to save money to pay it off." Toss_It_Out_Tomorrow thought it could simply be the stress of the past few years playing on her mind. " This pandemic has done a whole lot of s*** to people, besides the virus infections," they noted. "People are cracking from the stress."

BooBooKittyKat1 suggested it could be something work related. "Maybe she lost her job, or something may have happened at work," they wrote. "Her behavior is definitely not normal." Tsh87, meanwhile, thought "she may be having anxiety and being miserly is a coping mechanism for her. Just a way for her to exert control when she feels as though she has none."

Returning to the post, her husband offered up his theory on what it could be: "She does speak to a therapist regularly," he wrote. "No debt and she doesn't gamble. I'm thinking it could be because her brother is struggling with debt and paying off loans."

One alternative theory is that the man's wife may fall into the category of underspender. Speaking to Today, financial psychologist Brad Klontz explained that "underspenders go without things they can afford, and they have trouble enjoying their resources."

However, Klontz says it can manifest itself in even more serious ways. "Severe underspenders neglect basic self care," he said. "They don't go to the dentist or doctor because they don't want to spend the money."

Newsweek has contacted the concerned dad for comment.