There is a story that trended on social media of a man who called in an excavator and tractor loader backhoe (TLB) to destroy the house that he had built for his girlfriend after she broke up with him. The stand was in the lady’s name but the man claims that he was the one who contributed all the money towards the buying of the land and building of the house.

The first mistake that he made was to spend on a woman who was only with him for financial gain and not for love. I’m pretty sure that the signs that she did not really love him were there, but he ignored them hoping that things would change. The second mistake he made was having the asset under her name instead of his.

As a man, as much as you cannot safeguard your heart from being hurt, you can safeguard your assets. Rather give a woman whom you are not married to or who is not the mother of your kids the right of use and not ownership. So that when she breaks up with you, you don’t feel like you have lost everything.

Read more: 10 common mistakes women make in relationships

Read some of the mistakes that men make when in a relationship:

1. Spending on women who only want to use you

Most men spend a lot of money on women who are just gold diggers. Such women only want to use you to pay for their hair, cosmetics, rent, and all their expenses. Some even just want to use you for handymen services or as their mode of transport.

And some of these ladies don’t even agree to sleep with you and not because they are abstaining from sex or they are keeping themselves for marriage, but because they just don’t like you. And when a woman plays hard to get, that is when a man’s feelings intensify, and loves her even more.

When you are in a relationship assess if you are the player, or you are the one being played or you are playing together. There is a high chance that a woman who genuinely loves you but you are pursuing the one who just wants to use you.

2. Impregnating a woman you not serious about

Men love sex and are often in multiple relationships with women whom they are not serious about. They don’t have intentions of marrying them but they keep them around for sexual benefits. And the biggest mistake they make in such relationships is to rely on the pull-out method or hope that the woman is on a contraceptive.

When there is an oops moment and such a woman falls pregnant, it changes everything. You are now forced to take on the responsibility of being a father or even marry someone that you were not in love with. Some men choose to go AWOL and have bitter baby mamas and kids. Such mistakes can be avoided; be with the woman you love or play it safe by always condomising.

3. Taking her to school

Another mistake that men make is to take a woman to school. Many men have been left heartbroken after upgrading their women. This is what happens when you take her to school. She becomes exposed and can make better choices that are not driven by poverty.

When she becomes educated and makes her own money, she is able to have freedom of choice. Even the pool of men who would not have noticed her before starts to notice her. When you upgrade her, you are no longer in her league, she has to be with people that are at her level.

Be careful of a woman who chose you out of poverty, because her true colours will only be revealed when she has money. If you upgrade a woman also upgrade yourself so that you remain relevant.

Disclaimer, some women still continue to stay with men who took them to school.

4. Trusting a woman

When a woman is comfortable having sex without a condom, a man is even happier. But what he forgets is that a woman might be a carrier of an STI, but all a man thinks about is instant gratification. Women are also very busy, don’t think that you are the only one who is sleeping with her.

5. Constantly break her trust

Another mistake that a man makes is to play with the feelings of his woman. If you constantly break her trust and she continuously forgives you, know that one day she might reach her limit. A woman can forgive but she won’t really forget. When you continue breaking her, she changes, she is no longer the same woman that you fell in love with.

6. Thinking that presents can replace presence

Women love gifts but they also love a man who is physically and emotionally available. The mistake that men make is to think that money can buy love. At the beginning of a relationship, it can buy you her interest but along the way, she will have a void and run into the hands of a man who gives her attention.

Read more: How to make a woman happy

7. Neglecting his family

Another mistake that a man makes when in a relationship is to forget about the duties that he has towards his family or other kids. He spends all he has on his woman and neglects his family that depends on him. It is important to strike a balance so that both parties are happy.