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AIBU?

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Original poster

To have cleared the credit card off?

68 replies

fber · 28/12/2012 23:22

I was on online banking, dh has several accounts and I keep an eye on the business account and the house account. Last night I noticed that the credit card was looking quite maxed out (2k) and had had some late payments and was incuring about £25+ in interest the occasional £12 handling fee.

I saw that one of the other accounts was over 2k and so I swapped the money and cleared the card. Told DH. He went mental.

He said that that was his money he was saving (we are usually very casual, share everything etc)

He said what I'd done was out of order and he demanded an apology, I refused, saying that what I did was just common sense.

He says that he doesn't have 2k now, he'd been saving it. aibu?

OP posts:
Alisvolatpropiis · 29/12/2012 00:06

YANBU!

He hasn't saved 2k he had already spent it. By not paying it back he was robbing himself and his family of their own money.

It's amazing how many people don't understand credit cards and how they work.

SantasHoHoHo · 29/12/2012 00:08

anyfucker is always rude direct. It's just her style Grin

AnyFuckerForAMincePie · 29/12/2012 00:10

yo it is not rude to challenge the OP's partner's inadequate money management

nor to wonder why you are defending his poor choices

yohohoho · 29/12/2012 00:11

Alisvolatpropiis

Its not about understanding how they work. Its about somebody having a discussion with their partner about what to spend the money on. A 10 minute combo wouldn't have saved that much in interest.

yohohoho · 29/12/2012 00:13

It rude to tell some it sounds like they need money management advice when you know nothing about them. or because they choose to look at the whole situation rather than 'he must be hiding it'

AnyFuckerForAMincePie · 29/12/2012 00:16

I didn't say "he must be hiding it"

I dunno what you think you have read, yo

Casmama · 29/12/2012 00:16

Ah well, the OP seems to have fucked off so clearly not a major issue for her.

Alisvolatpropiis · 29/12/2012 00:16

Yo you have a point there. I suppose it depends on how much financial responsibility OP is expected to have in their relationship. DP and I are very much joint money for bills and then the rest is our own. But I had a colleague who was in charge of both hers and her husbands income.

But from what OP has stated her husband said,it seems as though he has missed the finer points on owing money on a credit card.

SantasHoHoHo · 29/12/2012 00:18

Grin Casmama

Casmama · 29/12/2012 00:19

There is no way we can assume that from the limited info the OP has given. He may have been saving it for something that had greater consequences than interest and late payment charges in which case it may have been a sensible decision. We, and the OP, because she didn't ask, don't know.

Utterlylostandneedtogo · 29/12/2012 00:20

YANBU

no point saving when you have debt

Alisvolatpropiis · 29/12/2012 00:24

But...paying off credit cards is important.

Saving is saving

Debt is debt.

Owing money on a credit card is debt. You're cheating yourself out of money if you don't pay it back asap.

Casmama · 29/12/2012 00:28

In very simplistic terms yes that is true but we are talking about real life here and we have no idea about the complexities of the finances because the OP has fucked off.

AnyFuckerForAMincePie · 29/12/2012 00:29

financial management 101

pay off what costs you more before you save

especially in this current climate of shite (at best 2.5-3%) savings interest rates (and a credit card interest rate of what ? 18% or so ?)

Utterlylostandneedtogo · 29/12/2012 00:31

No simplicity required.

Use savings to pay off cards.
Wages pay cost of living
Cut up credit cards

Jobs a goodun

Casmama · 29/12/2012 00:33

Yes but you don't know what the money was for. As someone mentioned earlier, if it is for a tax bill then he may now have a serious problem. We know there was interest but it may have been a low interest balance transfer and we don't know the potential cost of not having the cash that is saved because the OP isn't say and has now fucked off.

yohohoho · 29/12/2012 00:35

he didn't "tell" her about that, did he ?

no you said this ^^ massive difference.

As I have said you don't know enough to know if it was a sound decision. If he has to pay a tax bill in the new year it was daft decision.

Utterlylostandneedtogo · 29/12/2012 00:35

No savings transfer will be worth doing at the expense of maintaining high interest credit cards

Tax bill, well they've got some time now to accrue more savings with the bonus of no debt to pay it off

AnyFuckerForAMincePie · 29/12/2012 00:35

it appears they have had a (albeit, heated) discussion since OP bailed out the interest-accruing account

that would have been the time to mention some other pressing need for the money

instead he was "saving it"

not.good.enough.

VestaCurry · 29/12/2012 00:36

Am with casamama, not enough info to make a judgement, but I would not undertake transfers of that magnitude without discussing with dh first.
Especially as a business account is mentioned (and not enough info after). I would go mental if dh did this without talking to me and vice versa, if....that money could not immediately be transferred back to where it had been.
Yes, a £2k debt is being serviced, and late payment fees can damage your credit rating, and on the face of it, it seems eminently sensible to not have this, but the fact that a business account is part of the picture makes me think twice and I would have if anything, been asking more questions than usual....
I smell a bit of a rat but could be wrong.

Casmama · 29/12/2012 00:37

I'm talking about a balance transfer to a low interest deal on a credit card. I don't know anything about tax bills was just mentioning what another poster said.

Alisvolatpropiis · 29/12/2012 00:38

Casmama yes love and I live in the real world and have a real life.

Not understanding how credit cards work/ignoring it is not the sign of living in the "real world" it's the sign of either being desperate or a moron.

As OP's DH was under the belief he thought he had saved 2k completely separately from his 2k debt I would suggest he fell in to the latter not former category.

Casmama · 29/12/2012 00:40

Hey, I'm not defending the DH - he may well be a devious little fucker who has been up to no good, just saying I would have asked questions before taking action.

Casmama · 29/12/2012 00:41

Alis, I wasn't trying to patronise you.

Alisvolatpropiis · 29/12/2012 00:44

In that case I am with you Casmama

But in all seriousness, we have no idea how OP and her DH organise finances. It may be like my former colleague who did it all for both herself and DH because he was crap with money.

It does sound like OP has quite a lot of control and as she can access all bank accounts,it seems as though she was just being logical in cancelling out the debt. If her OP can save 2k in what is a presumably short amount of time,then he will be able to do it again without the debt.

Paying off debts comes before saving any day of the week.