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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What can I spend my new fortune on?

124 replies

RamsayBoltonsConscience · 05/08/2026 16:09

My ex paid very little child maintenance. Was on the fiddle with his boss to only pay £5 a week. He had over £2000 arrears.
Additionally, no one has set eyes on this piece of 💩in over 10 years including his children. I seriously considered that he may have died during COVID.
I am a petty bitch so wouldn’t let the the CMS close my account when my son turned 19. This morning I received a text to say a payment had been made to my account.
£15.65 a month will be paid to me starting this month. It will take him 10 years to pay off the arrears, I will be retired by the time it is cleared, he will be 70.
I would have loved to have seen his face when he saw the benefit reduction due to CMS arrears. Every month, I am going to spend that £15 on something ridiculous- suggestions please!

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
TeethAreImportant · Today 18:16

Pleasedontdoitagain · 05/08/2026 16:16

Not that I want to encourage gambling but Lottery Tickets might be a good shout.
You might end up really making a fortune which I''m sure would sicken him.

Or premium bonds!

Isinglass20 · Yesterday 22:41

Monthly DD into Stocks and Shares ISA. You’ll be surprised how it increases with compound interest.

Lovingsingledad1973 · Yesterday 10:00

RamsayBoltonsConscience · 05/08/2026 16:09

My ex paid very little child maintenance. Was on the fiddle with his boss to only pay £5 a week. He had over £2000 arrears.
Additionally, no one has set eyes on this piece of 💩in over 10 years including his children. I seriously considered that he may have died during COVID.
I am a petty bitch so wouldn’t let the the CMS close my account when my son turned 19. This morning I received a text to say a payment had been made to my account.
£15.65 a month will be paid to me starting this month. It will take him 10 years to pay off the arrears, I will be retired by the time it is cleared, he will be 70.
I would have loved to have seen his face when he saw the benefit reduction due to CMS arrears. Every month, I am going to spend that £15 on something ridiculous- suggestions please!

Guess something is better than nothing

Somerdays · 06/08/2026 20:30

Ooooh, £15 is enough for a book every month, and your favourite snack or drink to enjoy while you read it. That's what I'd do.

Original poster
RamsayBoltonsConscience · 06/08/2026 19:37

dentalflosser · 06/08/2026 12:31

My ex partner didn’t want anything to do with our DC and I went through domestic violence. It took years of chasing but the CMS have finally got him and as a result he owes me about £38k. As he damaged my face badly which required surgery (whilst I was pregnant he was violent) I now put the £100 a month he has to pay towards regular botox.

I’m so sorry that you had to go through that!
I was in London today so when I had lunch, I bought a lovely elderflower spritz and told myself that twatface was paying for that.

OP posts:
dentalflosser · 06/08/2026 12:31

My ex partner didn’t want anything to do with our DC and I went through domestic violence. It took years of chasing but the CMS have finally got him and as a result he owes me about £38k. As he damaged my face badly which required surgery (whilst I was pregnant he was violent) I now put the £100 a month he has to pay towards regular botox.

Viviennemary · 06/08/2026 11:37

Pleasedontdoitagain · 05/08/2026 16:16

Not that I want to encourage gambling but Lottery Tickets might be a good shout.
You might end up really making a fortune which I''m sure would sicken him.

Yes do that. Then you can be on Tv popping the champagne when you win Euromillions. So yah boo sucks to him and his £15.

Besidemyselfwithworry · 06/08/2026 07:18

Pleasedontdoitagain · 05/08/2026 16:16

Not that I want to encourage gambling but Lottery Tickets might be a good shout.
You might end up really making a fortune which I''m sure would sicken him.

This is genious!

pag3turn3r · 06/08/2026 07:14

You definitely need to sponsor a snake in a zoo and name it after him. Preferably a zoo near to where he lives so someone he knows might see it.

PyongyangKipperbang · 05/08/2026 22:42

OutAndAbouting · 05/08/2026 20:29

Oh a like the sound of a glitter parcel. What is it?

Show quote history

My sister does this occasionally on my birthday because she is a fucking cow!

Basically you shove a load of glitter in a card and send it to them, they open the card and you can imagine the rest, that fucking stuff will still be around ten years from now!

I absolutely adore my sister but when she does this.....she is the biggest bitch queen from hell!

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 05/08/2026 22:38

Hereagain334 · 05/08/2026 18:48

You make your bed, you lie in it - really simple -even you could comprehend....

Show quote history

Why is the woman to blame when it is the man who buggered off and abandoned his child, @Hereagain334?

Amazing what hoops some people will jump through to avoid putting any responsibility on the man.

AlphabetBird · 05/08/2026 21:59

I would buy a couple of meal deals, one for you, one for your son, and enjoy them together. Lovely stuff.

Month one though, I would give to one of those charities that collect and neuter feral cats and name one after him before the procedure. You can sponsor this for about a tenner, so I might buy a tinned gin with the change.

Bjorkdidit · 05/08/2026 21:55

Happyjoe · 05/08/2026 19:25

I like the other posters watermelon idea, however. Draw your ex's face on it and then smash it with a hammer.
Then next months massive windfall do something nicer! Nice one for not giving up :-)

I don't know how much they cost so you might have to save up, but you could spend some on a session at a rage room. Apparently they're very popular amongst middle aged women....

Continuing my poncy food suggestions from earlier, you could also buy some small tins of very lovely but very expensive fish.

https://www.seasisters.co.uk/collections/conservas

British Conservas

We are a craft cannery passionate about preserving the finest, ethically sourced British fish and seafood.

https://www.seasisters.co.uk/collections/conservas

Change2banon · 05/08/2026 21:34

Oh I love a lot of these suggestions! It’s a pity you don’t have contact details for him OP so you could show him every time you —wasted— spent his money 😂

GeorgeTheFirst · 05/08/2026 21:33

Flowers, wine and magazines

Whyherewego · 05/08/2026 21:03

What did he dislike ? When I divorced I took great pleasure in donating money he gave me at the last minute to secure the divorce (as he wanted to get married again quickly so basically paid me spme extra to hurry it through) to an animal welfare cause which he would have hated ie he just didn't like these animals at all ! I figured me just "wasting" it in his view and showing him I didn't even need it was quite a fun thing

Bunnycat101 · 05/08/2026 20:38

In all honesty, I don’t think it’s worth investing it for 10 years time if you’re secure. Assuming a 5% return you’d have £2.5k as a lump sum. Now that’s not to be sniffed at but I think you’d have more pleasure each month buying something as a bit of a FU whether that be a charity donation or something frivolous. You could even document it each month so you can see a year worth of spend on social media.

It really is shocking how many dads are so bloody reckless re walking away financially from their children.

Loub1987 · 05/08/2026 20:37

For me it would be a monthly fancy coffee and pastry of my choice! Maybe a book to read while I had them.

Loving all the hilarious suggestions!

Well done OP, it’s nice hear about a well deserved win.

OutAndAbouting · 05/08/2026 20:29

GnomeDePlume · 05/08/2026 17:18

Every month, just after the payment comes in with the message 'I wanted you to share the excitement'.

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Oh a like the sound of a glitter parcel. What is it?

VivIsBlonde · 05/08/2026 20:14

Such a vast amount, spend it wisely and enjoy every penny!
🤣
Buy a couple of scratch cards every time you get a payment and hopefully you’ll have a decent win

Sam9769 · 05/08/2026 20:04

A nice bottle of wine!

LondonLass2026 · 05/08/2026 20:04

Sweetdreamsbeautifulnightmare · 05/08/2026 18:59

Boils my absolute piss.
My BIL never paid CM for his son who is now 19. He now owes so much that it isn’t worth him working so he just doesn’t, he just claims benefits instead. He’s then had two more kids since. The system is fucked and so unfair.

Same. My son is 30 and his dad never paid a penny of child maintenence. Not a penny. It was him who decided we'd married and had our child too young, so he fucked off when our child was 3. Even before that he never paid for a thing.

He now runs his own business and had 5 more children. I just don't think about it because I'll explode. He never did give us any money, even when his business took off. As you can imagine, he's very clever with his accounting.

watermybegonias · 05/08/2026 20:04

RamsayBoltonsConscience · 05/08/2026 18:38

Sponsor a toilet!! There’s a reason that I came here to ask for suggestions.

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Well, he is obviously full of you know what! Kind of appropriate.

BunnyLake · 05/08/2026 19:58

wonderingwhatsnext · 05/08/2026 16:16

Stick it in a s&s ISA until the arrears are paid off, should have accrued enough for a decent holiday by then!

That’s what I was going to suggest.

Make the money work for you OP. You won’t regret it.