DEAR ABBY: I am instinctively tight-fisted with money. It's also necessary because my brother and I have been in business for ourselves for only a few years, and we are just now starting to turn a decent profit. My girlfriend earns a good living as a nurse. She is pretty thrifty, but not when it comes to food.
My question is, how much of the bill should I be expected to foot for an expensive dinner I didn't want to go out to, or an overpriced breakfast burrito from some snobby food truck? If I don't look enthusiastic about the prospect of going to one of these places, she says not to worry because she'll pay for it, which makes me feel insecure. Any tips on how to handle this? -- PROUD GUY IN WASHINGTON
DEAR PROUD GUY: Yes. You appear to be an old-fashioned guy who is dating a contemporary woman. Accept her generosity and quit tying your masculinity to how she chooses to spend her own hard-earned money. That said, if you are thinking of marrying her, it would be in both your interests to have premarital counseling to ensure that disagreements about money don't cause serious problems in your marriage.