“Lena, you bought some nonsense again!” Maxim shook the grocery store receipt like it was evidence of a crime. “Expensive yogurts, the wrong cheese… We have a savings plan!”
“The savings plan is only for me,” Lena said quietly, taking off her jacket. “And yesterday you spent three thousand at the bar with your friends.”
“That’s different! I need to maintain relationships with my colleagues!” He threw the receipt onto the table. “And you waste family money on all sorts of junk!”
Lena worked as a sales clerk in a stationery shop. Her salary was twenty-five thousand plus a small commission from sales. Maxim worked as a manager at a construction company, earned forty thousand, and constantly complained that “money is catastrophically short.” At the same time, every Friday he met up with his buddies in cafés, bought expensive sneakers “for image,” and regularly took out microloans “until payday.”
“Max, let’s talk calmly,” Lena sat down opposite her husband. “I counted our expenses. If you stop borrowing money and spending it on entertainment…”
“Oh, look how smart you are!” he cut her off. “Decided to control me, did you? I’m the head of the house, I decide what we spend money on!”
“Then spend your own money,” Lena said calmly. “And mine are mine.”
“What do you understand about finances!” Maxim jumped up and started pacing around the kitchen. “Your salary is peanuts! Without me you’d be lost!”
“Live off your own money, if you’re so smart!” he blurted out, spinning around to face his wife.
Lena looked at him closely, as if seeing him for the first time, and said:
“I’ve been living off my own money for a long time.”
Maxim was taken aback. He expected tears, apologies, pleas for forgiveness—but not such a calm answer.
“What do you mean?” he frowned.
“Exactly what I said. I pay the utilities from my salary. I buy the groceries. For the last six months I’ve been paying off your loans. So I’ve been living on my own money for a long time. But you’ve been living on mine.”
It all started two years ago, when they moved in together. Back then, Maxim was romantic and attentive. He brought her flowers, took her to the movies, said beautiful things about their future together. At that time, Lena worked at the same store, rented a one-room apartment and could barely make ends meet, but she was happy.
“Let’s live together,” Maxim suggested six months into the relationship. “Why are you paying for a rented apartment? I’ve got a two-room place from my parents.”
Lena was delighted. Finally, she’d be able to save instead of handing over money to the owners of someone else’s flat. She imagined how they would plan their budget together, save for vacations, maybe even for a wedding.
The first month of living together went wonderfully. Maxim cooked breakfast, they went shopping together, chose groceries. Lena put her share into the family budget—half of the utilities and food.
But gradually something began to change. Maxim more and more often stayed out late with friends, came home late and demanded dinner. He started nitpicking about what Lena bought.
“Why did you get expensive bread?” he’d protest. “There’s regular bread for twenty rubles!”
“But this one tastes better,” Lena would justify herself timidly. “The difference is only ten rubles.”
“Ten rubles here, ten there—and it adds up!” Maxim lectured her. “You have to use your head!”
At the same time, he himself could easily spend a thousand rubles on energy drinks and chips, explaining that “a man needs more calories.”
Six months into living together, Maxim first asked Lena to “help him out.”
“Len, can you lend me two thousand until payday?” he asked one evening. “I need to take the car to the shop, and I’m short.”
Lena gave him the money. She always tried to help the people she loved. Maxim promised to return it in a week, when he got his paycheck.
A week passed, then another. Lena gently reminded him of the debt.
“Oh, right, I forgot,” Maxim waved her off. “I’ll give it back next week for sure.”
But he never did. And a month later he asked to “help out” again—this time for three thousand.
“I’ve got a force majeure,” he explained. “Got a fine, need to pay it urgently.”
Lena gave him money again. And again never got it back.
Gradually these requests became regular. He suddenly “urgently” needed to pay for some course, or buy a new phone “for work,” or “celebrate a promotion” with colleagues. The sums grew, and the chances of seeing that money again got smaller and smaller.
“Len, why are you acting like a stranger?” Maxim would get offended when Lena tried to remind him of the debts. “We’re family! In a family everything is shared!”
Except that somehow only Lena’s income turned out to be “shared.” Maxim spent his own salary however he wanted and didn’t report anything.
A year ago the situation became critical. Maxim took out a fifty-thousand-ruble loan “to develop a business.” What kind of business exactly he couldn’t explain; he only mumbled something vague about “investments” and “prospects.” The money disappeared in two months, and there was nothing left to pay back the loan.
“Len, help me out,” he asked then. “There’ll be a late payment on the loan, I’ll ruin my credit history. You don’t want us to have problems, do you?”
Lena started paying off someone else’s loan. Eight thousand a month—a third of her salary—went to covering her husband’s financial holes.
At the same time, Maxim kept spending money on entertainment, justifying it as “maintaining status” and “investing in my career.”
“You see, without connections in our line of work you’re nowhere,” he lectured Lena. “You sit in your little shop, you wouldn’t understand. I have to treat people, give gifts, maintain my image.”
Lena worked from morning till night, saved on everything, bought clothes only on sale, and denied herself even the simplest pleasures. And every weekend Maxim “relaxed” in cafés with friends, bought expensive skincare “to look after himself,” and regularly refreshed his wardrobe.
When Lena tried to talk to him about it, he got angry:
“So now you’re trying to control me? I’m a grown man, I know how to spend money! And if you don’t like it—you can move back to your rented shoebox!”
The last straw was the vacation story. Lena saved for six months for a trip to the sea. She dreamed of at least a week away from work, away from constant scrimping, away from endless money worries.
“I’ve got a chance to go to Turkey with the guys,” Maxim announced a week before their planned vacation. “Last-minute package, very cheap. Lend me some money, yeah?”
“Max, but we were going to go to the sea together,” Lena was thrown off. “I already took my vacation, bought the tickets…”
“Oh, come on!” he waved her off. “You can go to your parents’ dacha, that’s a rest too. And this is such a chance! I might make useful new connections.”
“And what about me?” Lena asked quietly.
“What about you? You sit all day in that store, every day is like a vacation for you,” Maxim laughed. “But I work like a dog! I need a real rest!”
Lena gave him the money. Maxim flew to Turkey, and she spent her vacation at home, staring out the window and thinking about how everything had gone so wrong.
“I’ve been living off my own money for a long time,” Lena repeated, looking at her stunned husband.
“Don’t say stupid things,” Maxim tried to laugh it off. “We’re a family, everything is shared.”
“No, it’s not shared,” Lena shook her head. “The only thing shared are my money. Your money is only yours. Shared are my responsibilities. Your rights are only yours.”
“Lena, what’s wrong with you?” Maxim sat down opposite his wife and tried to take her hand. “You’ve become strange. Maybe you’re just tired? Take a day off, get some rest.”
“I am tired,” Lena agreed. “But not from work. I’m tired of being your wallet.”
“What are you talking about!” Maxim flared up. “What wallet! I don’t force you to give me money!”
“No, you just present me with a fact,” Lena said calmly. “‘Give me money or I’ll ruin my credit history.’ ‘Give me money or I won’t pay the fine.’ ‘Give me money or my friends will be offended.’ And then you say I gave it voluntarily.”
Maxim fell silent. Something like confusion appeared in his eyes.
“But it’s not like I spent money on nonsense,” he said at last. “It was all for a reason. Fixing the car, paying fines, maintaining connections…”
“You wrecked the car yourself, driving like a maniac,” Lena listed. “You got the fines yourself, breaking the rules. And you ‘maintain connections’ in bars, drinking away my salary.”
“Well, fine, maybe I was wrong,” Maxim tried to make peace. “Let’s start over. I’ll be more responsible.”
“We don’t need to start anything,” Lena shook her head. “We need to end it.”
“What do you mean?” Maxim didn’t understand.
“I’m moving out,” Lena said simply. “Today. I’ve already rented an apartment.”
“Lena, are you crazy?” Maxim jumped up. “What apartment? With what money? Your salary is peanuts!”
“It’s enough,” Lena shrugged. “When you’re not paying off someone else’s loans and someone else’s fun. Turns out you can live quite decently on my ‘peanuts.’”
“But here you don’t have to pay for housing!” Maxim tried to reason with her. “Why rent when you can live here for free?”
“Not for free,” Lena corrected him. “Very expensively. I pay for this place with all my money. And I’m still in the red.”
“Lena, listen,” Maxim sat down next to her, his voice soft and persuasive. “I get it, you’re tired. But we love each other. We can fix everything. I’ll find extra work, I’ll be more frugal…”
“Max, how many times have you promised me that?” Lena asked tiredly. “Ten? Twenty? Every time I started to complain, you said the same thing. And then everything went back to the way it was.”
“This time it’ll be different!” Maxim said fervently. “I realized I was wrong. I’ll change!”
“You know what I realized?” Lena stood up and walked to the window. “You aren’t going to change. Because this is convenient for you. Why should you work more, save, deny yourself pleasures, when you have me? My salary, my patience, my willingness to understand and forgive everything.”
“But I didn’t do it on purpose!” Maxim tried to justify himself. “It just happened…”
“It happened,” Lena agreed. “And it will keep happening. As long as I put up with it.”
She went into the bedroom and took a suitcase she’d prepared in advance out of the closet.
“Lena, stop!” Maxim rushed after her. “Think this through! Your salary is peanuts! You won’t be able to manage on your own! You’ll have to scrimp on everything!”
“I already scrimp on everything,” Lena replied calmly, putting her documents into the bag. “Only now I’ll be scrimping for myself, not for your whims.”
“But we were planning a wedding!” Maxim shouted in desperation. “Kids, a family… Are you really throwing all of that away?”
Lena stopped and turned to him.
“Max, what wedding?” she asked in surprise. “We’ve been living together for two years, and you’ve never once seriously brought it up. And kids… On what money would we raise them? On my salary? While you’re ‘maintaining connections’ in bars?”
“I’ll work more!” Maxim promised. “I’ll find a side job! I’ll stop meeting up with friends!”
“No need,” Lena shook her head. “You don’t have to change anything for me. Live like you always have. Just without my money.”
She zipped up the bag and picked up her jacket.
“Lena, wait!” Maxim blocked the doorway. “At least think about it for a couple of days, okay? Don’t make rash decisions!”
“I’ve been thinking for two years,” Lena replied. “Every time I handed you money, I thought, ‘Okay, this is the last time.’ Every time you promised to change, I thought, ‘Maybe this time he really will.’ I’ve thought enough.”
“But without me it’ll be hard for you!” Maxim insisted. “Who will help you if something happens? Who will support you?”
“And who supported me these last two years?” Lena asked. “When I worked double shifts to cover your loan? When I cut back on food to give you money for your ‘important meeting’? When I didn’t buy a winter coat because you had ‘urgent business’?”
Maxim said nothing.
“I’ve been living without support for a long time already,” Lena went on. “I just didn’t realize it. I thought that if there was someone next to me, that meant there was support. Turns out there was just someone who needed my money.”
“Lena, I love you!” Maxim burst out.
“You know,” Lena smiled sadly, “I thought that too. But love is when you take care of a person, not use them. When you try to make their life easier, not harder. When you’re ready to sacrifice for them, not sacrifice them for yourself.”
She walked toward the door.
“Lena!” Maxim shouted after her. “What about me? What am I supposed to do?”
“The same thing I’ve been doing for the last two years,” Lena said from the doorway. “Work, save, count every penny. Only now you’ll do it yourself. With your own money.”
The door closed behind her softly, without a slam.
The one-room apartment on the edge of the city greeted Lena with silence and peace. Clean, bright, no extra furniture—only the essentials. But the most important thing was that no one demanded explanations about how every penny had been spent.
The first week felt strange. Lena would buy groceries and catch herself thinking, “What will Max say about this yogurt?” Then she’d remember that Max wasn’t there, and she could buy any yogurt she wanted. Or not buy any at all, if she didn’t feel like it.
She recalculated her income and expenses. Without loan payments for Maxim, without his “urgent needs” and “important meetings,” her salary was enough not only for all the necessities, but even left a little for “extras”—good cosmetics, books, and trips to the cinema.
Maxim called every day. First he begged her to come back, then he yelled at her, then begged again. He promised her the moon, swore he’d changed, threatened that she’d be lost without him.
“Len, how long are you going to be so stubborn?” he said into the phone. “Come back, we’ll forget all this. I found a side job, I’ll earn more.”
“Max, you don’t have to,” Lena replied. “Live your life. I’ll live mine.”
“But we were happy!” he argued.
“You were happy,” Lena corrected him. “You had a free apartment, free food, free money for entertainment. And I was your ATM.”
A month later the calls stopped. Lena heard from mutual acquaintances that Maxim was already seeing another girl—a young, trusting one, ready to “help her beloved in a tough moment.”
Lena didn’t get upset. She was grateful to that girl—now Maxim had a new ATM, and he’d leave her alone.
Six months later Lena ran into Maxim at a shopping mall. He looked rumpled and tired. She, on the contrary, had blossomed; she dressed better than before and in general looked happy.
“Lena?” he called to her uncertainly. “How are you?”
“Good,” she smiled. “And you?”
“Fine,” Maxim shrugged. “Listen, maybe we could meet up sometime? Talk?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Lena shook her head.
“You know, I realized I was wrong,” Maxim said. “I really have changed. Everything’s different now.”
“I’m glad for you,” Lena said sincerely.
“And that girl…” Maxim waved his hand vaguely. “We broke up. She turned out to be stingy. Can you imagine, she wouldn’t give me money! Said I should earn it myself.”
“I can imagine,” Lena nodded.
“Not like you,” Maxim looked at her hopefully. “You were understanding, kind…”
“I was,” Lena agreed. “Now I’m understanding and kind to myself.”
She said goodbye and walked off to take care of her own business. Maxim stayed standing in the middle of the shopping mall, watching her go.
On the bus ride home, Lena thought about how strange things had turned out. For two years she had been afraid of ending up alone, afraid she wouldn’t cope, that it would be hard and lonely. But it turned out to be the opposite—for the first time in a long while, she felt free and happy.
Her “peanuts” salary had only been small when she had to support two people. For one, it turned out to be quite enough. More than that—Lena had even started to save. She was planning to go to the seaside in the summer. Alone. And to spend on that vacation as much as she wanted, without asking anyone’s permission.
In the seat next to her sat a young couple. The guy was explaining something to the girl, waving his hands:
“You see, I need money for these courses. It’s an investment in our future! Lend it to me, I’ll pay you back later!”
The girl nodded uncertainly.
“But my salary is small…”
“Oh, come on!” the guy waved her off. “You’ve got parents, ask them!”
Lena wanted to turn around, look at that girl and tell her something important. But she changed her mind. Everyone has to walk their own path. And make their own choice.
She took out her phone, opened her banking app and looked at her balance. The amount was modest, but it was hers. Earned by her, spent as she wished, saved for her goals.
Lena smiled and started planning her vacation. Now she had the right to dream