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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Husband and I constantly argue about money and have totally different views. I can't work out who is being unreasonable?

246 replies

cleoteacher · 05/11/2015 22:40

We have totally different attitudes to money. I don't know how to solve it and we have had another blazing row. I just don't know who is right or wrong anymore.

Basically he had a text from his mate to go out for drinks. He wanted to go but I reminded him he is low in his account. This leads to him ranting at me that it's my fault he can't go and I am dictating how he's spending his money and he earns x amount and only gets x amount of this. He's very mine, mine, mine in my opinion.

He then argues it's my fault because I got him a pair of trousers out of his account, which were less than half price. He argues these should have come out of the joint account and he didn't want me to get them for him. However , I thought I was doing something nice as the previous night he came home complaining that he urgently needed new trousers for work. I asked him twice before I brought them online if he wanted them and he said he did but is now saying he didn't want to upset me by saying no.

He then argued he should get it out the joint account as I had. £150 recently from a £450 tax rebate into my own account and the rest into savings and he had paid £1,000 bonus into the savings account recently out of a £2,000 bonus. The other £1,000 went towards the deposit on a car I didn't want.

He says I micro manage his money and constantly blames me for the fact he can't have nights out or new clothes. But he gets a set amount of money every month and chooses to spend it on other stuff so doesn't have the money for these things. He wants to get overdrawn to buy these things but I don't want to get overdrawn after spending years in our overdrafts and have worked bloody hard to get out of it. I know he's only talking about £10 or so snd he says he would make it up the following month but I feel like he wouldn't, he's very reckless with money. Plus I get half the amount he gets and I manage to buy clothes etc with that money without going overdrawn so feel while I work really hard to manage my money so should he. He's not willing to sacrifice one thing for something else like I am.

I want to save and feel we should underspend in our own accounts and use this to put into extra savings which he doesn't want to do as he doesn't care about any of the things I want to save for. Yet he wants a weeks holiday abroad next year and likes a warm house now we have a new boiler, all of which we only have due to my careful management of money.

So I get his point about being too controlling with the money but I feel I have to be of we would never have the savings. I don't dictate what he spends his money on I just ask him to stick to a certain amount which he says he can't do and should have more as he earns x amount plans only sees a small amount of that money.

I try to be a nice person about it and have got him a new paid of shoes as an early birthday present recently even though I had earmarked that money for some shoes myself. I just can't see who's right it wrong anymore.

Please be nice.

OP posts:
cleoteacher · 05/11/2015 23:51

It's the circle of life- that's how we do it, without those particular fractions and he gets more than me.

I let him spend his money as he likes. The problem is he wants to get overdrawn when he runs out of money and wants extras like clothes from the joint money as he says the amount of money he gets for himself isn't enough for clothes etc. I don't think he should get it from our joint money. I manage with less than him and feel he should sacrifice something else that mongh if he wants new clothes or shoes. He won't sacrifice anything else and argues he pays more in so should get more out and it's rediculous with what he earns that he has old clothes and shoes.

To add more detail which might help opinions. He earns a few grand a month. We have a roughly a grand left as extra money after other expenses. A few hundred goes into savings automatically. He gets £400 and I get £250. Should he get more given his earnings. I earn nothing at the moment as on maternity leave put will earn a few hundred a month after childcare when I go back to work. Is that split fair?

OP posts:
AndNowItsSeven · 05/11/2015 23:57

No it's not fair you should both have £325 each.

itsthecircleoflife · 05/11/2015 23:57

No, he shouldnt get more if he earns more than you- thats bullshit. Your a partnership- you share everything equally. If he doesnt like that, he shouldnt of got married and had a child.

Maybe he needs to learn to man up a little bit. I take back what I said OP.

Cel982 · 05/11/2015 23:58

I don't think you're being unreasonable, OP. It's extremely frustrating when one partner is irresponsible with money. It puts you in the position of having to be the bad guy - if you ask him to curb his spending then you're nagging and controlling, but if you let him have free rein then he runs up debts which will potentially impact on you and your kids. It's lose-lose for you.

Could you have a proper sit-down budget meeting with him? Where you look at exactly what's in the accounts, what the money needs to pay for and decide together what your savings goals should be? It may be that he's not interested in saving for certain things and would prefer to spend that money socialising, and that's fair enough, but regularly being overdrawn is not a responsible way of managing money, that has to stop.

SchnitzelVonKrumm · 06/11/2015 00:04

Why on earth do you have separate accounts if the other person can access them? I would find that seriously wearing. DH and I have only recently opened a joint bank account after 17 years of marriage but we don't now both have separate accounts as well.

cleoteacher · 06/11/2015 00:04

Unfortunately, that's another big problem with our marriage. I don't feel like he feels it's a partnership at all. I feel he doesn't value what I do (looking after the kids at home on maternity leave) at all. He argued he earns more so should get more and I accepted that. He's quite this is my money, I spend it how I like. I earn it. This attitude seems to have developed more as we've gone through married life. Perhaps partly because he feels I micro manage it.

There's no way he would have less a month. He wants more.

Ok, I am going to accept we are saving the few hundred from our joint money and try and save more through our joint account and my own account. Plus, try and be ok with him going overdrawn and not say anything. Otherwise this argument will never end.

I still stand by not agreeing to him having extras from our joint money though for clothes etc which he's arguing. Not sure how that part of the argument will ever be solved.

OP posts:
itsthecircleoflife · 06/11/2015 00:09

Well there you go OP. You accepted it, so why on earth would he say no to the extra money? I highly doubt you would Hmm

Your going to have a fight on your hands to get him to change.

NoSquirrels · 06/11/2015 00:11

I still stand by not agreeing to him having extras from our joint money though for clothes etc which he's arguing. Not sure how that part of the argument will ever be solved.

Did you see my post earlier, OP? You agree a "basic" set of clothes everyone needs - underwear, clothes for work, rainproof coats & wellies and what have you - and then anything "extra" (that top you fancied but didn't strictly need, that extra pair of trainers when he's already got 2 pair on the go) comes from his own account.

His priorities are such that he will not spend on clothes of his own accord (hence trouser-gate) but he still needs to be clothed.

Tbh, you don't sound as if you communicate particularly well between both of you, but he also sounds like a selfish, irritating man-child. I do sympathise, but I think you do need to see your own role in the dynamic and step away a little.

Inertia · 06/11/2015 00:12

Presumably you taking a pay cut to work freelance means that you are able to be more flexible about childcare, thus saving on childcare costs, which would negate the arguments about it all being his money.

If you've set aside savings before getting spending money, it seems pointless to then insist on saving from the spending money too- just increases the saving amount in the first place.

I'd be inclined to just let him spend his spending money as he likes without interfering, but once the agreed budget is spent it's gone- joint account is for paying bills!

Inertia · 06/11/2015 00:15

As a compromise, couldn't petrol come out of the joint account rather than arguing over necessary or unnecessary clothes?

NoSquirrels · 06/11/2015 00:19

Missed that petrol came out of "fun" money too. Honestly, that's a household expense, no? All car-related stuff probably should be.

I think maybe you've got into a position where you don't "approve" of his choices so much that you've lost sight of what is a true "fun" expense and what is a cost of living and household choices.

headexplodesbodyfreezes · 06/11/2015 00:22

I let him spend his money as he likes

To me, this speaks volumes. He's an adult, its not up to anyone to allow an adult to spend their money. If you have differing attitudes to spending, you have to reach a compromise that you can both live with. You can't impose your views on him.

PurpleDaisies · 06/11/2015 00:22

I don't understand the point of having separate accounts if you can access it and buy things from it. I'd have been really annoyed about the trousers-if you were buying him then to be nice surely it should have come from the joint account or even your own account?

The money seems like a symptom of much greater problems. You don't seem to like him very much, or trust him with money. It sounds like you should sit down and have a proper talk about how your finances work (or don't at the moment) making it absolutely clear what each account is for and agree the consequences of him running out of "fun money" before he gets paid again.

It all seems like such hard work though.

NoSquirrels · 06/11/2015 00:34

I think you need to ask yourself:

  1. Why do you have access to his account, and knowledge of how "low" or high his balance is?

  2. What is the outcome of him overspending? Late fees/overdraft interest etc on his account = his problem. Why do you care/what do you fear?

  3. Why are your priorities not aligned wrt long-term financial goals, and how can you get better at wanting the same thing for your family.

  4. Why do you agree you are "worth" less than him interns of disposable income? What will happen as your DC get older and Dad is still the one prioritised over their "wants" e.g. university etc.

Perhaps you need to go to counselling together? I'm not saying that to be knee-jerk, but disagreements about financial goals are pretty much stock-in-trade of marriage counselling, as it is one of the biggest sources of strife and often ends in divorce. So it's basically cheaper all round to pay for the counselling to avoid the divorce!

itsthecircleoflife · 06/11/2015 00:38

Why shouldnt car expenses be "fun" expenses? If I chose to drive around in say a 2 litre Audi while my partner drove round in a 1.2 Corsa- I wouldnt expect him to pay for my choice. Just like I wouldnt pay for his petrol because he choses to go to a golf club 20 miles away and does 80 miles a week (at least) travelling to/from said club when I rarely go past 50 miles a week.

Baconyum · 06/11/2015 05:04

Simplistic but - I would say his account is his business BUT if he goes overdrawn he has to pay that off with his money.

Shutthatdoor · 06/11/2015 05:31

Sorry it OP it is coming across as a bit 'I want'

Shutthatdoor · 06/11/2015 05:31

*you are not it is Shock

Funinthesun15 · 06/11/2015 05:33

Why shouldnt car expenses be "fun" expenses

Depends on many things. Does he use it for work, have a long commute?

My DH has quadruple the fuel expenses I do because of his commute.

wannabestressfree · 06/11/2015 06:19

You are being defensive....

If you are already saving then I would just leave it at that. Why do you then need to save more from your 'fun'money? That would annoy me to be honest. Also I would leave him to his own devices this next month. If he wants to go overdrawn then it's up to him. I would loosen the reigns a bit.....

TheDowagerCuntess · 06/11/2015 06:36

I do, genuinely, hate to be all doom and gloom, but I think this is potentially an insurmountable incompatibility.

You're both veering into extremes of your respective positions, as a response to one another - in other words, this is becoming more of an issue between you, as time goes on.

His way of dealing with things would aggrevate me no end, but likewise, I can (grudgingly) see why he is so pissed off with the way things are, too.

This wouldn't be anywhere near such a problem between two people who were better-matched when it comes to finances. Both happy to loose the purse strings and spend, or both keeping a careful eye on things.

In other words, this is a basic compatibility, that unless one - or both - of you is willing to compromise long/term on, you will be having this argument forever more, and both feeling more and more resentful of the other as time passes.

Ozulynne · 06/11/2015 06:37

Separate accounts and separate money...always works.

GloriaHotcakes · 06/11/2015 06:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Duckdeamon · 06/11/2015 06:47

He bought a "flash car" (presumably many £000s) on finance without your agreement. Shock

He thinks he should get more to spend than you because he earns more. And that £400 isn't enough a month for him. Gets angry when you ask him not to get overdrawn/credit card debt.

He seemingly agrees to savings goals (home stuff) but then spends on other things.

Not OK.

He is not "giving you the lifestyle": you have two DC, and you cutting back at work - at a cost to your current and possibly future earnings - is presumably enabling him to be a parent AND maintain his earnings and career. If he uses this against you and throws his weight around (eg buying the car) he isn't trustworthy enough at present to rely on financially. In your shoes I would be looking to return to a better paid job.

Agree with PPs that it's not a good idea to buy him clothes, from his account or as a "treat". Not a good dynamic - co-dependentish. And he clearly doesn't want this.

Also wouldn't say things like you can't go out, or police his overdraft - if he gets overdrawn often and this affects family finances then take that up with him, not specific items of spending.

UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea · 06/11/2015 06:47

Would he agree to go to counselling over this? WWIW I agree with you but I don't think you are going to convince him on your own.

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