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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

DH keeps spending. AIBU to be pissed off?

118 replies

Purplegirlie · 22/06/2011 11:21

Have namechanged.

My DH has always been a bit of a spendthrift. We've never really had any savings as he spends everything. We have three children and I have always tried to budget. I meal plan each week. He then decides he doesn't fancy what we're having for tea and goes to the shop and spends £20. Some weeks we probably spend in excess of £80 over budget because of his spending. He won't save up to do things to the house, he just buys things regardless. He was obsessed with getting a new sofa and as soon as we'd paid off our existing one (which is fine) he ordered another one. He insisted on having our living room ceiling re-plastered without saving up for it, so now we are £500 down.

He does shooting and had an expensive gun. A few months ago he decided to buy another expensive gun and said he would sell his old one. He never sold it and has decided not to sell it even though he doesn't use it. He got a dog to take shooting recently and spent over £700 getting the dog, and equipment for it, and things like vaccinations.

The thing is, he doesn't earn enough to sustain this spending. We already got into lots of debt before because of his spending and we got straight about 2 years ago and now I am finding credit card bills that have been run up again. His job is temporary and he won't look for another job. He wants to earn lots of money (in his words) but won't do anything to achieve that. He has turned down 2 opportunities recently; one a permanent job and one to be a business partner in a friend's business (DH is in a trade and his trade would compliment his friend's trade). If I try to talk to him about getting another job or about our finances he either starts singing or does that type of talking people do when they're going off to sleep, with his eyes closed and all muttering and talking nonsense.

I work part time from home, but obviously the more we earn between us, the more he spends. It doesn't seem fair that I am shopping at Primark and charity shops for the kids and I, whilst he is spending hundreds of pounds on his hobbies, extra food from the shop, etc. Any money that I manage to get, he spends it. I made a couple of hundred quid doing boot sales with unwanted stuff we had, and he had mentally spent it before I'd got it, and sure enough it was spent straight away on stuff for decorating the living room. A family member gave me some money the other day to buy myself something to wear and DH straight away said "Oh you can put that in the spends pot in the kitchen", basically meaning I should spend it on milk, bread and school dinner money whilst he has a gun worth 1k sitting unused in his gun cabinet.

I think the problem is he has 2 friends that are also complete spendaholics. One spends regardless and has been made bankrupt before but he still spends and spends and just says he'll go bankrupt again one day. The other owns a business and probably earns a fair bit more than DH so obviously his spending power is going to be more. If he gets something, DH has to get it too.

AIBU to be highly pissed off?

OP posts:
Pumpernickel10 · 22/06/2011 11:45

YABU to let him get away with this for so long. If he carrys he will bankrupt you. You need to take charge as he's acting like a child.

Purplegirlie · 22/06/2011 11:45

LRD,we have all wages paid into a joint account. I could get mine paid into my own account though.

Geek, I guess I am just too sensible to spend on frivolities when I know there's a chance he will. Priorities are the mortgage and bills really, and I worry we won't have enough to cover them, then we will be stuffed.

I don't skimp massively on food, we all eat well, however it takes effort on my part and we would be better off if he wasn't spending an extra £300 or so on food and beer at the local shop each month.

OP posts:
EvelynBakerLang · 22/06/2011 11:45

Not to you, Purple. X-posted. I was talking to the people up-thread. I know YOU know you can't do it. It's them others (mutter, mutter).

Purplegirlie · 22/06/2011 11:47

LOL Evelyn, don't you start muttering too, I get enough of that from DH :-)

OP posts:
Purplegirlie · 22/06/2011 11:48

I just don't know at the moment what my plan will be. If I take bank cards etc away I know it will cause problems and he would still find a way to spend regardless. He wasn't happy at all when I suggested he should sell the older gun.

OP posts:
CogitoErgoSometimes · 22/06/2011 11:48

"E-Bay" was a figurative suggestion. I'm sure there's a 'Gun-Bay' equivalent or some other specialist trader in secondhand firearms.

MsTeak · 22/06/2011 11:48

I know people jokingly say "leave the bastard" on these things, but I would, in all honestly. He doesn't care about you or how you feel about it, he is willing to ruin you all and lose your house, because he is a selfish cunt.

There are a great many things I would put up with in a relationship, personally this man would see me out the door so fast there would be smoke.

LRDTheFeministNutcase · 22/06/2011 11:48

Don't make the 'extra effort'. It is clearly making him think you are there to provide him with money.

I guess the problem with reacting by putting your money into a separate account is, if he is the bigger earner (and even if he's not, really), you presumably depend on joint finances - or is he actually spending more than he's helping out (300 a month is a lot)? But I still think I would do it just to shock him into realizing that he is acting as if the joint account/credit cards are his personal property to be spent without reference to you.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 22/06/2011 11:49

"Cause problems"

Are we talking tantrums? Violence? Silent treatment? What's the real downside to you taking the card away and is it worse than being made bankrupt and homeless?

Pumpernickel10 · 22/06/2011 11:51

Sorry op but you won't take his cards away incase it causes trouble? How much trouble will you be in when he's bankrupted you, your pandering to all his whims. Put your foot down today!

jennypenney · 22/06/2011 11:51

I agree with everyone who's said cut up his cards/sell the gun etc. You need to cut off his cast at source and really lay it on the line. I've been there - I threatened to leave my DH if he didn't face up to his spendthrift ways. Luckily he's now so well trained he asks me if it's ok before he buys anything and acknowledges that when it comes to money, what I say goes!

It sounds harsh, but you need to teach him a hard lesson - if he has spendaholic friends, it's probably a male pride thing. My DH's best friend earns a six-figure salary and we earn nothing like that. I had to make him realise that he didn't have to "keep up", and that if he did, we'd probably end up homeless. Could you have a word with the friends on the side?

LRDTheFeministNutcase · 22/06/2011 11:51

Agree with cogito. What is this man doing that is making you feel you have no say in how money you earned is spent on you and on his children? It must be something pretty big, or you need to learn to say no.

electra · 22/06/2011 11:52

He sounds really selfish and childish. The way I see it you either have to give him an ultimatum or separate your finances from his. That is the only way you will be able to get any control back.

TheProvincialLady · 22/06/2011 11:52

I would insist on the following:

  • All monies are paid into your account and the bills paid from there.
  • All credit cards cut up and no more applied for
  • Draw up a budget and ensure that you are both given equal amounts of spending money each month, and when it is gone do not let him have any more. His money should be paid into his account to spend as he likes.
  • Prioritise paying off the debt, then building up a good amount of savings
  • Also syphon off an amount every month into an account for you and the children, in case you need to leave him. Because it you do, he will certainly get into more debt which you will be liable for (even if it is just reducing the equity on your house etc)

If he won't do this - and I have a feeling he won't - you have to consider how long you can continue in this relationship, being responsible for debts that he is causing through absolute selfishness. Try and get as much money together as you can for when you leave him.

jennypenney · 22/06/2011 11:52

cash not cast

Pumpernickel10 · 22/06/2011 11:52

Think of it this way what's more important
Your child of a DH sulking ?

Or no roof over your heads?

Be sensible youve DC to think of

CogitoErgoSometimes · 22/06/2011 11:53

Do you at any level feel that it is not your place to say what he does with the money he earns?....

LRDTheFeministNutcase · 22/06/2011 11:55

Btw, does he understand what you spend each month on food/neccessities? You say he won't listen properly when you try to explain, but he needs to udnerstand. I know that (in the nicest possible way), my dad has no clue about this and wouldn't know if a meal for five were cheap for thirty quid or expensive for 3.50. Honestly

If he thinks he can spend this way because he actually believes you are moaning but extravagant, you need to show him this is wrong. It just sounds to me awfullly likely that is what he does believe, deep down.

portaloo · 22/06/2011 12:01

My XP was the same and your thread made me remember how stressful it was. I was tearing my hair out in the end, trying to make him understand that I didn't have a magical way to generate more money. I always felt as though he expected me to, even though he didn't say this.

My advice is to do whatever you can to protect yourself and your DC's. Put as much money away where your DH cannot access it.
I'm not sure if wives are as responsible for their DH's debts as he is because they're married, but if not, remove yourself from the credit cards.
If your DH wont even listen to your fears about where his reckless spending will lead, then talking to him isn't going to change anything.

This is such a stressful situation to be living in OP.

In my case, I ended up paying for all of the food/bills/rent everything. If I didn't, the DC would've been homeless, hungry and cold. While XP was here, he enjoyed the benefits of the food/roof/bills but spent all of his money on things he wanted. I found it almost impossible to only provide for DC's and myself, so XP got the best of both worlds.

Purplegirlie · 22/06/2011 12:04

He would sulk and be moody/miserable if he couldn't buy what he wanted. He earns more than me and although he always says it's our money rather than his that he earns, he certainly spends a lot more than me

OP posts:
Pumpernickel10 · 22/06/2011 12:05

But if the op won't take the cards away from him then there's little we can do. I just hope she's not back in 12 months time to tell us they are bankrupt.

Pumpernickel10 · 22/06/2011 12:06

So your gonna pander to him then op then why bother asking our advise? You knew we'd tell you to take his cards away. You really don't grasp the severity of this situation do you?

Purplegirlie · 22/06/2011 12:07

I'd like to take the cards away from him Pumpernickel, but he might not actually let me or be in agreement with it. And like I said, he would find ways to carry on spending

OP posts:
portaloo · 22/06/2011 12:07

Purple How long has your DH been like this?

fedupofnamechanging · 22/06/2011 12:07

Evelyn, admittedly, I hadn't thought about the legality of selling a gun on Ebay, but the fact remains that people do sell guns, even if it's not on ebay and if I was the OP I'd sell his. In fact, I'd sell them both. A man with responsibilities has no business having expensive hobbies he can't afford, when his house is at risk!

OP, I think it would be a good idea to separate your finances from his and as soon as he gets paid withdraw all the money you need from the joint account and put it into your own account. Then the essentials are covered. It is also really important to minimise your legal liability for his spending.

This could become really serious, very quickly, so for the sake of your DC, take control back, because you've talked to him lots and he's still not grasping this.