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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to be incredibly annoyed with DH?

79 replies

IncorrigibleTitmouse · 15/09/2019 07:18

DH was self employed for about 10 years, but over the past 3 it became evident that what he was doing was never going to be profitable. In fact, there were periods where he would make big fat zero for months at a time, to the point where he had to ask his parents for money. Humiliating in your late 30s.

So, after many rows and plenty of sleepless nights worrying about money (for me!) he got a job. Accepted he’d have to start at the bottom to get into an industry he was interested in, but made a commitment to me to doing both that and going to night school to be able to progress.

Like many of us, he had a commute of about an hour each way. As he’d had no commute while self-employed and could set his own hours he quickly deemed this unreasonable (despite the fact I’ve been doing it my entire working life) and moaned about it every day.

A lesser paid (about £12,000 a year less) job came up at his company’s location closer to our home, meaning a half hour commute each way. He told me he was thinking of going for it even though it’s a more menial job and it would mean doing the night shift (7pm-6am Mon-Thurs). He says the location he’d move to is where all the higher ups are and there’s more potential for them to notice his work but we have just bought a house (using my salary only because he’s been such a financial mess) and we can’t afford the drop. He asked me what I thought—I told him on three separate occasions that it was not a good idea. On Thursday—he’s accepted the job and starts tomorrow.

AIBU to be so effing livid I can barely be in the same room as him? Not only the selfishness of taking that major pay cut but also the fact that he’s given zero consideration to what the hours will do to our marriage? Plus there will be someone in the house 24 hours a day now so our utility bills will essentially double. AIBU or is he being incredibly selfish?

OP posts:
Glitteryone · 15/09/2019 11:20

It sounds like he can afford to make massive stupid decisions like this because you’re there to carry him.

Sorry OP but he sounds like a total idiot!

vanillaicedtea · 15/09/2019 12:02

Senior staff definitely won't notice him. I work P/T in a business branch that's literally 2 minutes from the Head Offices. When they come in they literally ignore your existence or find something to complain about. If you work a lower job, they don't care who you are or anything about you.

Your DH sounds lazy and irresponsible as PP have stated. I don't think I could stay. Not having any pension is unforgivable, especially when there's absolutely no reason why. It's not as if he was out of work due to illness or he was having kids etc. He's a joke.

Cherrysoup · 15/09/2019 12:11

My friend’s dh worked nights and refused to get a day job despite her begging him to do so. It destroyed their marriage, he was half asleep during the evenings having just got out of bed and with 3 dc, he wasn’t much help, tbh. Funnily enough, once divorced, he’s got a new day time job.

billy1966 · 15/09/2019 12:19

OP, he is what he is.

You will spend your life carrying him.

If you have children with him, I guarantee you will be old before your time because it will be harder than being a single parent. And God knows how hard that is.

I have an old friend married to a waster.
He loves the good things in life that her well paid, stressful job provides.

She has never been able to take a breather in her children's lives because everything was down to her.

He stayed in his waster job, never utilising his education as he liked his cosy number.

A real low point for her friends to hear about, was his 3 week Camino jaunt when he turned 50, while she was left to juggle childcare and some home remodeling.

She had a mini nervous breakdown a year ago after 20+ years of doing everything.
She is a shadow of the wonderful woman she was.

She is so sad that she never got a chance to enjoy her children's childhood. Between organising everyone, work, traveling for work, she never stopped.

Don't be her.

💐

MinisterforCheekyFuckery · 15/09/2019 12:25

Stop going on expensive holidays and buying house stuff? Simply cut down on unecessary expenditure and lessen the stress.

Why should she?? OP has worked hard all her adult life, she's not unreasonable to want to be able to go on holiday and live in a nice home and I'm sure her DH is quite happy to benefit from those things. The problem is that he doesn't feel it's his responsibility to provide them. OP supported her DH when he wanted to run his own business and picked up the financial slack when that business failed. Now he's thrown away a good job and taken a significant pay cut against OP's wishes knowing his wife will, once again, have to pick up the slack because he can't be bothered with same commute she has been doing for years and your solution is for OP to tighten her belt? Unbelievable.

Tilltheendoftheline · 15/09/2019 12:30

I've recently gone back to work after my business failed and I'm not enjoying it - it pays well but is stressful and there is a one hour commute each way. I have been able to secure a job with the same company that is closer and full time night shifts. My husband didn't want me to take the pay drop. I have accepted the job and now he says he is so angry that he can't bear to be in the same room as me AIBU

Well people would ask why he was angry? I know I would. I would not assume after a failed business then now dropping a huge amount of income without both agreeing to it, meant that she was reasonable and he was unreasonable.

My assumption would be that he is fed up of carrying her.

Ellie56 · 15/09/2019 12:32

YANBU. He clearly doesn't care about you or what you think. And as others have said he will soon find working nights is not to his liking either. And what then?

I'd be finding someone else to go on holiday with as he can't afford holidays now can he?

You can do better than him. He is a lazy self entitled twat.

Bluntness100 · 15/09/2019 12:58

His logic is irrational. Senior management will not be overseeing a manual worker on night shifts. They won't know more than his name.

He's taken it as the easy option. He's thinking he can do less at night, it won't be seen, and he gets his days free. Of course he is likely wrong, night shifts will be a bastard.

Next you will hear is it's too hard doing nights. And That's why he can't do anything round the house. Before he has to quit.

It's your call on whether you keep carrying him. You know what's coming. He's not going to change.

maz7777 · 15/09/2019 13:00

I've recently gone back to work after my business failed and I'm not enjoying it - it pays well but is stressful and there is a one hour commute each way. I have been able to secure a job with the same company that is closer and full time night shifts. My husband didn't want me to take the pay drop. I have accepted the job and now he says he is so angry that he can't bear to be in the same room as me AIBU

You've conveniently left out here that the business failed three years ago and the household can't afford the pay drop having just bought a house. Also that the night shifts mean the study option offered can no longer be done.

Nottrueatall · 15/09/2019 13:03

From the sounds of your post at 7.40am, you're already doing everything a single parent/person would be, so you may as well be one. At least then you wouldn't have the stress of managing/ mothering him as well.

Bluntness100 · 15/09/2019 13:08

I've recently gone back to work after my business failed and I'm not enjoying it - it pays well but is stressful and there is a one hour commute each way. I have been able to secure a job with the same company that is closer and full time night shifts. My husband didn't want me to take the pay drop. I have accepted the job and now he says he is so angry that he can't bear to be in the same room as me AIBU

Let me fix that for you.

I've recently gone back to work after my business failed three years ago. I've not earned much in that time and we were struggling and I had to ask my parents for money. Eventually I got a job at my husband's insistence as we can't keep living off my parents according to him.. I'm not enjoying it - it pays ok but is stressful and there is a one hour commute each way, the same commute as my husband, but I don't like it.. I have been able to secure a job with the same company that is 30 mins closer and full time night shifts. It's much more menial and has a substantial pay cut. If I take it we simply can not afford to pay our bills and would be in trouble again financially . I also can't do the night classes I'd committed to to help me progress. I have accepted the job though and now he says he is so angry that he can't bear to be in the same room as me AIBU

pinkyredrose · 15/09/2019 13:09

A lazy irresponsible man that you can't rely on does not a good husband make. You may have some difficult decisions ahead.

SignedUpJust4This · 15/09/2019 13:25

Sunniday that's not reversing he genders. Your example changes the whole post. Instead of just he to she.

So sick of this 'if this was a man' bullshit

PonderingPanda · 15/09/2019 13:30

OP - he doesn't sound intelligent, he sounds as thick as pig shit

IncorrigibleTitmouse · 15/09/2019 14:25

@MinisterforCheekyFuckery You have got it bang on as to how I feel at the moment because that’s exactly how things are and that’s why I’m so cross! I wouldn’t dream of doing this to him! I’ve told him the only reason he thinks it’s ok is because I’ve always been there, dependable old me.

@Ellie56 This is absolutely my fear. It took us months (and I say us because I did a lot of job hunting and CV/cover letter writing for him) to find this job because he’s been self employed for most of his adult life.

I can’t remember who asked, but when we met he was very ambitious. Working one regular job while also working on his business. When it became evident the business wasn’t working and we had to take that tough decision he went onto antidepressants and they helped. It became clear, though, that he hadn’t been doing the absolute most he could have been. He had been coasting even at that. Which is something you can’t do as a business owner, especially if you’re the only employee.

I don’t know how to help him get over this lazy spirit he seems to have. As others have said, it’s highly unlikely he’ll do housework after he gets up before he goes back to work because I always have to ask him to do housework and he WILL find nights hard. Our one DC (Y6) is getting more self sufficient anyway and I’m out of the house 7:00-17:30/18:00 so it may benefit us only from 16:00-17:30 in that sense.

OP posts:
Butterymuffin · 15/09/2019 14:37

I don’t know how to help him get over this lazy spirit he seems to have.

This is who he is. There's no 'helping him get over it'. It can only happen if he himself really wants to change and works hard at it. Unlikely, since as you've posted yourself, he's never worked hard at anything in his life. The way it looked when you first met was a red herring, as you are starting to see now - he wasn't really trying, even then.

Ellie56 · 15/09/2019 15:08

Is there any way he can get his old job back?

SunniDay · 15/09/2019 18:41

"Sunniday that's not reversing he genders. Your example changes the whole post. Instead of just he to she.

So sick of this 'if this was a man' bullshit"

I think it's a reasonable attempt at what the OPs partner would write - from a woman's point of view. I've yet to see a thread where someone writes "hi - I'm a lazy, selfish bastard that can't stick at anything..." that will not be the other person's point of view - although it might be yours.

OP I'm not surprised to see that "we" applied for the job any more than "we" agreed that as well as doing a stressful job your partner should be doing a night class. If he wanted to do the night class he would be doing it - he doesn't.

If it is important to you that your partner is an ambitious, high earning, commuting person you should have thought of that before you married and you have some serious thinking to do. I don't think you can change your husband and you will make him miserable by trying to.

If he doesn't like working night shifts I expect he will look for another job, luke most other people, while working the job he isn't fond of - as the responsible adult he is.

All the "can't afford the bills if he does this job" is rubbish. The OP admits her husband didn't earn a lot for years and she got the mortgage based on her own income and outgoings. The bank wouldn't have given her the mortgage if the household couldn't afford the bills. The Ops partner hasn't left the household 1k "short" by changing jobs (although a 1k drop won't be anything like 1k after tax) but with a bit less than the large amount of income that they have now.

Tilltheendoftheline · 15/09/2019 19:12

I think it's a reasonable attempt at what the OPs partner would write - from a woman's point of view. I've yet to see a thread where someone writes "hi - I'm a lazy, selfish bastard that can't stick at anything..." that will not be the other person's point of view - although it might be yours.

No, but bluntness example gives the facts. Without trying to make the writee sound like a complete dick.

IncorrigibleTitmouse · 15/09/2019 19:37

@SunniDay It’s not important to me that he’s high earning, I just expect him to pull his weight. This job has taken him down to pence above minimum wage. It wasn’t a high earning job in the first place.

I am not earning what I would call a ‘large amount’. I make about £36,000 with 15 years in my field. It could go up if I take on more responsibility and I am working towards that. I managed to get the mortgage because I saved for 10 years to get a decent deposit together while renting in the suburbs of a major city. We’ve had to move further out to afford to buy a house.

He has a degree and 10 years working as a self employed consultant. ‘We’ decided on this because the only way he said he could imagine working for someone else again and not having that flexibility was to get into a particular industry that he has a passion for.

OP posts:
Blueoasis · 15/09/2019 19:51

Is the industry he is in IT security?

IncorrigibleTitmouse · 15/09/2019 19:55

@Blueoasis No, it’s a part of the car industry.

OP posts:
IncorrigibleTitmouse · 15/09/2019 19:56

The consultancy he was in was nothing to do with that. This was a complete career change because it’s following a passion.

OP posts:
bluebeck · 15/09/2019 20:01

Fuck this shit - swap him for tax credits.

Butterymuffin · 15/09/2019 20:10

Look, it's a lovely plan to work for yourself and not have to answer to anybody else (though I'm sure self employed folk would say it doesn't work out that way), or to work at something you have a passion for. But it's a privilege, not a right. Most of us have to pay the bills first and foremost, and we consider we're doing well if those conditions apply - but we can't afford to work only under those conditions.

Your husband thinks he's special. More special than you. It's ok for you - in his eyes - to work for someone else, and not work at your passion, isn't it? Why does he think he's entitled to have the luxury of working solely if he feels like it, while you carry on regardless?

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