How do I determine if we (23F/22M) are compatible long-term?
We’ve been together for around 9 months. I’ve made a pros and cons list below.
As a note, some of the things I mention are finance-related; I don’t care if he’s the richest or poorest guy on the planet, I’m just sorta tired of always paying or paying him back for everything. Just want to make that clear. And I’ve told him there are plenty of dates we can have without spending any money and provided suggestions.
Pros:
- Physically affectionate
- Has always moved the relationship forward at my pace
- Respectful not just to me, but to the people around him
- Cares about me and my interests
- Gives me a long hug and kiss every time I see him no matter what
- Makes it known that he misses me and wants to see me
- Shares his interests with me
- Participates in family events/invites me to his family events
- Always comforts me when I’m sad/upset even when he is the cause
- Takes accountability for his mistakes and validates my feelings if I tell him that he did something I didn’t like
- When it’s cold, he starts my car for me and has me wait inside until it warms up
- Communicates extremely well
- Is very secure both with himself and our relationship
- Very driven and passionate with his business
- Cares deeply for his family and friends
- We are very well-matched in the bedroom and he is a generous lover
- Calls me a lot just because he wants to hear my voice
- Constantly compliments me and tells me how beautiful I am
- Always asks me how my day was
- Listens every time I talk about something, even if it’s stupid
- Participates in “girly” activities with me because it makes me happy (ex. skincare stuff)
- Very handsome
- Treats me very kindly and has never raised his voice at me even a little bit
- Overall tends to do the little things that make me feel special
Cons:
- Has not gotten me flowers in 4-5 months (despite me asking)
- Doesn’t have a lot of disposable income, so we rarely go on dates, even when I offer to pay. Also hasn’t had an interest in dates recently in general
- Backed out on moving in with me last minute, and instead moved an hour away with family (soon to be moving in, yes, it’s a very long story, but he did blindside me and uprooted my plans - I’ve been trying to move out for over a year now)
- Extremely spontaneous and thrives in chaos, whereas I am a planner and like things organized
- Despite his business offering a very common service and him promising to do it for me, he still hasn’t; I even booked on his website like a regular customer and something still came up (refuses to let me pay him, and he’s had the business for a long time. I’ve stopped asking)
- Agreed to start spending more time together, but it never happens. We see each other less than ever
- Got a part-time job to (business hasn’t taken off yet), and his schedule is the complete opposite of mine
- We split the bills on everything he buys. I don’t really get treated often. Asked to pay him back for a $10 movie ticket; I pay for us both a lot and only asked him to split one time on an expensive event ticket. For my birthday, I was the one who paid for us to do something together. It was never like this before
- Does not have any set plan for the future, just marriage and kids “someday.” I, however, want to be a fiancée in the next three years at most. While he seems to agree with my timeline, he never actually tells me that is specifically what he wants too
- Often sends me home early on days that we were supposed to spend together
- Gets distracted easily and forgets to answer my texts frequently; I rarely know where he is or what he’s doing
- He’s very religious and I’m not
- Can’t decide if he wants to stop being intimate and wait until marriage or not, which is a dealbreaker for me, and it’s a little too late anyway I feel; hasn’t come up in a bit though and we are still intimate often
- Although he said he doesn’t really have the money for dates, he still makes large purchases somewhat commonly
- Doesn’t like to stay at my family events for long and asks how long I want to stay for, but gets annoyed when I ask the same thing at his (I see his family WAY more often than he sees mine)
I’m very in love with him and I don’t want to break up. But I also don’t want to waste my time. My last relationship was abusive and long-distance. I won’t put myself in that bad of a place ever again. We are also just very, very different in general and that’s scary.
Advice would be greatly appreciated. Please be kind.
Posted Jul 10, 2026, 7:21 PM UTC