Help! My Boyfriend is Cheap; What do I do?

A young woman wants to know why, when she constantly buys her boyfriend expensive gifts, he doesn't give her anything in return.

First of all, stop buying him gifts!! If you're purchasing him expensive electronic items, and he give you cheap jewery in return, you've got to know something is up. Take a good hard look at your relationship. Is he only in it because you buy him things? Start by giving him nothing, and see what happens. If he starts to pull away, you know he is out for only one thing, money!

Never begin a relationship buying gifts. Say you start dating in October and the holidays are right around the corner. You could get him some candy or an ornament, but nothing more. If he gets you something more expensive and you really like him, great! And I don't care which of you makes more money. Giving gifts too soon is simply inappropriate.

If you start dating someone and suddenly you find out his birthday is the following week, you have two options. You can (a) buy him a cup of coffee for his big day, or (b) buy him his favorite candy. (Candy is always the best option for the beginning of a relationship.) You can customize the chocolate by going to a store that sells theme candy. Say he is into fixing up cars. Get him a chocolate convertible surrounded by candy shaped into tools. That shows you are thinking about what his interests are, but you aren't spending a lot of money.

Remember, you can't take things too slowly, especially in the gift-giving department. And if you are broke and a holiday is near, a card shows you really care.