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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Husband resents me for debt

999 replies

wishes1111 · 02/02/2021 14:35

Hello

I'll try and explain as briefly as possible.

I was raised by my grandparents and lost them both within 3 years or each other to cancer (in their 60s). I've also had 6 miscarriages during and since.

I have been on antidepressants since age 14 and have a history of anxiety too.

My coping mechanism was to spend, I took loans out, ordered clothes, things I didn't need and racked up nearly £8000 in debt, exchanging my utter sadness and despair for temporary happiness.

After 2 years of paying the minimum payments, I realised I couldn't hide it anymore, interest was rising and I was struggling to cope and was losing the battle of keeping my head above water.

I earn £24,000 a year, my husband earns £40,000.

I admitted it all during a breakdown, he was angry and sad that I'd done this and especially since I'd hid it from him. I fully understood this and took responsibility for my actions. I entered a payment plan with stepchange and have kept up with payments over the past couple of years and it's slowly but surely reducing. I'm paying this myself, as well as £550 for my half of rent and £30 for my phone. The rest, I use for birthday presents, diesel, car insurance and tax and I'm left with little per month. I've also cleared my overdraft in this time.

I have taken no further loans out since entering my plan with stepchange.

My problem is, my Husband resents me for this. He is a saver, he won't spend unless he has to and he saves what he can (which is a good thing). I've tried my hardest to turn my life around and take responsibility.

He said he will resent me until it's all paid off which will be another couple of years. Some days he is lovely, others it's like he's punishing me for my mistakes. Digs here and there, cold towards me, brings up what I did.

I can't even explain how much I regret doing this but I can't live like this. If I have £10 left for the last week of the month and I need to get something such as tampons or some lunch stuff for work , he tells me to sort it out myself. I understand I'm not his responsibility but this is wearing me down.

He has more than enough in savings to clear my debt. I don't expect him to do that but know in a heartbeat I would do it for him if I knew it was weighing on his shoulders, adding anxiety to his life and and he'd made an effort to change.

I feel I can't go on this way, but when he's in a nice mood I love him so much, when he's in his resentful mood he makes me feel low and like he'll never move past it.

I'm waffling, I don't expect people to think he's in the wrong, I get it.

I guess I'm just hoping for a hand hold whilst suffering my latest miscarriage, dealing with a resentful husband and trying my hardest to not fall back into a deep depression x

OP posts:
Roastednotsalt · 02/02/2021 19:13

@Idontknowausername

I think he’s entirely within his right to resent you. You’re lucky he’s stayed with you tbh. I don’t think many women on here would stay with their husbands if the roles were reversed.
He has no right to make OP a misery. Why doesn’t he up and leave?

OP please get a backbone yes you did wrong but you are paying it off. So what you spend is your business as long as your paying your share of bills/rent.

He sounds hideous.

wishes1111 · 02/02/2021 19:14

@Confusedlady246 my monthly outgoings are over £1400 by the time I've paid food, rent, council tax, diesel, insurance, tax, stepchange. I also have to factor in birthday gifts for family and close friends/their children and my pre payment card for my prescriptions.

You're actually really rude.

OP posts:
Confusedlady246 · 02/02/2021 19:14

[quote unmarkedbythat]@confusedlady246 apt username

Have you ever heard of interest?[/quote]
I have heard of interest. However, if the OP was paying around £24,000 which is 8k plus 'interest', why would she start the thread with "I'm in 8k of debt?!". I think you'll find that is embellishing

Snoozysnoozy · 02/02/2021 19:16

Fucking mumsnet and money.

If a bloke won't help his partner out then he's a cunt

If the bloke gets into debt and wants help then he's a cunt

Earnings should be put together and split 50:50. Until the women is the main earner then living expense should be 50:50 and your spending money is radar w what you have left. Any other split then he's a cocklodger.

frumpety · 02/02/2021 19:17

@Confusedlady246 if the original debt was £8,000 and still has interest added to the debt , then would she need to pay more than £160 a month to pay the interest and make an inroad into the debt ? Especially if the debt is spread over different things, so credit card, store card etc ?

mouldyhouse101 · 02/02/2021 19:19

I think he’s entirely within his right to resent you. You’re lucky he’s stayed with you tbh. I don’t think many women on here would stay with their husbands if the roles were reversed.

Absolutely. It's shocking how mumsnet loves to side with the 'poor woman' but if roles reversed then the man would be slaughtered

OhCaptain · 02/02/2021 19:19

@wishes1111 it's nobody's fucking business what your outgoings are down to the penny.

They don't want to know because they want to help, they're trying to use it as a stick to beat you with and you've enough of that in real life.

Please, please stop putting up with this from him.

Confusedlady246 · 02/02/2021 19:20

[quote wishes1111]@Confusedlady246 my monthly outgoings are over £1400 by the time I've paid food, rent, council tax, diesel, insurance, tax, stepchange. I also have to factor in birthday gifts for family and close friends/their children and my pre payment card for my prescriptions.

You're actually really rude.[/quote]
Then you need to looks at your outgoings. You have stated you spend £550 on rent, so the other £850 is spent on:

Council Tax - £171
Food - £200 maximum. Adults do not need to spend more than this on food for two people when they are in debt and cannot afford tampons
Birthday presents - stop buying presents! If my other half lied to me and got themselves in debt and then moaned they never had any money because they had to buy 'birthday presents' (every month?) I would be annoyed too!

You said you take home around 1500 earlier in the thread. So from what you've said, you have £579 to spend on insurance, petrol and debt.

If your debt is genuinely £8k then you need £160 a month, which leaves you with 420 for petrol, insurance and tampons?

Clearly your spending is not in control and that needs addressing.

I just think it's really unfair for a witch hunt against OPs husband when all we are getting is drip fed and parts of the truth.

DeusEx · 02/02/2021 19:20

@Confusedlady246

I think it would be a lot easier to offer advice to the OP if she just cleared up some of the anomalies.

Is it that your debt is substantially more than 8k, but you didn't want to let on.

Or is it that you have several hundred pounds left over each month after all bills, food and debt repayment and you're still struggling to manage you money?

It can only be one of those two options based on what you have said here. The half a story and hiding truths/embellishing facts could be why your husband is still resentful. I'm not at all saying he should be horrible to you, but if he is still bringing it up, maybe it's because you're distorting the truth? I imagine it's exhausting to live with someone who only tells half truths

Do you hear yourself? Are you just getting off on upsetting OP? She’s grieving for her lost babies and for her parents and is in a miserable marriage - stop putting the boot in. So rude and insensitive.
ILikeToMoveItMoveItILikeToMove · 02/02/2021 19:20

You lot who are picking apart every single financial aspect of the debt the OP has stated have no idea what you are talking about only the OP does so why keep trying to work it out? Step change have worked out a plan for the OP. Most likely all interest has been stopped so there is one sum of £8000 no longer incurring interest. What’s so bloody hard to understand about it? If you don’t want to accept it fine but the OP didn’t ask for advice on what she is paying, you need to re-read the original post.

PurplePansy05 · 02/02/2021 19:20

Tbh it would help if the OP clarified the numbers as it does look like she's paying a lot of money over a long peeiod of time in respect of an £8k debt, even with interest, and considering there's still 2 more years. Is there room for debt consolidation to avoid further interest? This is a valid point to consider if the debt is spread eg amongst several high interest credit cards.

wishes1111 · 02/02/2021 19:21

@mouldyhouse101 "the poor woman" have you read any of my posts? I have taken responsibility for the debt I racked up after losing 6 babies and the people who raised me as a coping mechanism and I'm paying it off as quick as I possibly can.

OP posts:
AccidentallyOnPurpose · 02/02/2021 19:21

@wishes1111

Thank you everyone for your kind words.

I will try and answer some questions.

  • I do buy sanitary items in the food shop but as I explained in a previous post, I have endometriosis. Sometimes my period can last for 4 days, sometimes 15 days, sometimes I'll have one a month, sometimes I'll have two. I can go through a pack of tampons in two days if it's very bad. Sometimes I get caught out unexpectedly and if I do and I don't have the money spare in my account and I use a joint account, he looks at internet banking and scrutinises me for it. Even for a a pack of tampons and maybe a bottle of water for when I'm at work. (I do not spend on the joint account every month, possibly 6 months out of the year I'll have to borrow £10 from it to cover something unexpected).
  • I haven't lied about the figure being £8000, I have no reason to. Some of my lenders have declined to stop interest on these debts too.
  • I do not take home £2000 a month, I take home £1509 after paying tax, NI and pension.
  • Our rent is £1500 a month, we live in Surrey in a normal 2 bed house, this is average for our area.
  • Yes I do buy birthday gifts and most Christmas gifts, I'd be utterly ashamed of myself if I didn't buy for those I love on occasions however these are not lavish gifts.
  • I wasn't in any debt when we married, I lost my grandparents and the babies after marriage. I didn't lie to him for "years".
  • I was getting to the point where I was suicidal about final notices and letters of legal collections, I confessed and expected him to be angry, disappointed, betrayed, upset. I did not expect to still be punished for my mistake for so long afterwards especially since I have made positive changes and I'm addressing the debts and my depression.
  • I do NOT expect him to pay my debt off, if he had offered I would have paid him every penny back. I was just noting that he has savings, triple what my debt is and if I was in his position I'd like to think that once the anger and shock had woke off I'd help him.
  • I have no way said I am an angel, I made a terrible mistake using spending to comfort me in my despair of losing the equivalent to my parents and baby after baby. I am sorry for this, I regret it every day, I am anxious over this every day and I will be until it's paid.
Has he always been so controlling with the joint account or has it only started after he found out about the debt?
Bookwords · 02/02/2021 19:21

@

MiriamMargo · 02/02/2021 19:21

@Idontknowausername

I think he’s entirely within his right to resent you. You’re lucky he’s stayed with you tbh. I don’t think many women on here would stay with their husbands if the roles were reversed.
WOW, your clearly a very bitter twisted individual, what a vile comment to make to someone who has clearly made mistakes , and is putting it right Whats it like to be so perfect !!!
MrDarcysMa · 02/02/2021 19:22

Sorry op but he's not resentful of your debt as such, he's resentful of the years of lies. That takes a lot to overcome.

Sounds a bit like you still have a victim mentality as you start your post with all of the bad things that have happened to you/ your excuses and seem to want a medal for the fact you're paying if off yourself. Perhaps this is behind his attitude.

frumpety · 02/02/2021 19:22

The interest on a loan with say Sainsburys is 2.8% on a personal loan of £8,000 and the repayment would be around the £180 mark over 4 years , but if you have a credit card or store card where the APR is a lot higher than that, surely the repayments are going to be higher ?
Taking into account the OP got herself into trouble with her debts and probably has a poor credit rating, she isn't going to be able to get a loan to pay off the debt at such a favourable rate is she ?

ILikeToMoveItMoveItILikeToMove · 02/02/2021 19:22

@Confusedlady246 - My God you are tedious in the extreme. What a barrel of laughs you must be to live with. You miss the whole point of the thread every single time. Just go away.

mouldyhouse101 · 02/02/2021 19:23

[quote wishes1111]@mouldyhouse101 "the poor woman" have you read any of my posts? I have taken responsibility for the debt I racked up after losing 6 babies and the people who raised me as a coping mechanism and I'm paying it off as quick as I possibly can.[/quote]
Never said you weren't.

But you kept it from your husband. A huge secret from someone who should be your closest confidante.

I think that's unforgivable and he has every right to leave you through lack of trust

MrDarcysMa · 02/02/2021 19:23

Also to add it does sound like you've been through a very rough time and perhaps you should consider therapy to get good coping mechanisms for the future.

Bookwords · 02/02/2021 19:24

@Confusedlady246 where has OP said it's £500 a month she's paying? I must've missed it?

DeusEx · 02/02/2021 19:24

@MrDarcysMa

Sorry op but he's not resentful of your debt as such, he's resentful of the years of lies. That takes a lot to overcome.

Sounds a bit like you still have a victim mentality as you start your post with all of the bad things that have happened to you/ your excuses and seem to want a medal for the fact you're paying if off yourself. Perhaps this is behind his attitude.

She’s clarified it wasn’t years. RTFT.

How is wanting your husband not to emotionally manipulate you the same as wanting a medal?

wishes1111 · 02/02/2021 19:24

@mouldyhouse101 the point is he didn't leave me, instead he's made my life living hell half the time since.

I'm still grieving, dealing with depression and anxiety.

I did keep it a secret, I was ashamed of how out of control I got. I admitted it and got help.

OP posts:
Emeraldshamrock · 02/02/2021 19:25

Is the interest frozen under the debt management company? There is an end to it OP you'll feel proud when it is paid.
I done similar years ago I'd 4 cards they spiralled out of control.
I'm still terrible with money and love spending never on credit
Your DH better hope he never makes a mistake.

wishes1111 · 02/02/2021 19:26

@MrDarcysMa I do not have victim mentality. Yes I have been through some absolute shit but I'm not asking for sympathy on here.

OP posts:
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