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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:
TokyoSashimi · 02/02/2021 15:25

You are not in it for the long run. You do not have to accept being resented and despised by the person who is meant to love you and to have your back.

You can change it.

What future do you have with such a person, really?

Mix56 · 02/02/2021 15:25

I think the difference between "running up a secret debt", & getting into "debt as a symptom of depression" is the crux here.
Spending binges are frequent in people with depression,
It wasn't deliberate hedonistic negligence.
He is deliberately punishing you. I fear you are not able to LTB, due to your financial situation, (at the moment) but honestly, this lack of understanding, compassion & forgiveness shows how rigid & unkind he is.
You deserve better

Dozycuntlaters · 02/02/2021 15:26

I don't blame him for not clearing your debts but he is totally unreasonable to resent you and make sniper comments. You fucked up, you had your reasons and now you're rectifying it. He should be proud that you have taken steps to sort it out yourself, he should be building you up not knocking you down.

What's he going to do then once the debts are paid off and he stops resenting you? I bet he will ask you to pay more towards the bills and then beat you with the stick that he's paid more over the years because of the debt you used to be in. If he resents you now, he will resent you then. Not even being prepared to help you buy tampons makes him a financially abusive dick, I'm sorry but it does. I'd be leaving him, he won't get any better.

OhCaptain · 02/02/2021 15:26

@wishes1111 You've been through so much. I'm so sorry.

Look, whatever about him having grounds to be upset and resentful.

The thing is, he chose to stay when he could have left. You're not expecting him to foot the bill for this, and you're taking care of it.

It is NOT ok for him to decide to be a prick to you until your debt is cleared.

He shouldn't finance it (I know my DH would clear my debts in the same situation but there's nothing wrong with yours not doing it either) but who the fuck does he think he is emotionally abusing you because of it?

What happens in two years? He's decided you're worth treating well then?

Fuck that.

I'm sorry about your miscarriage but I really, REALLY don't think you should be trying to get pregnant right now.

You need to seriously consider things. He's not a victim of your mistakes. But you're a victim of his current treatment.

I wouldn't be planning a child or a future with this man.

You need to stop thinking you deserve this because of your past mistakes. It's time for a frank conversation (maybe a letter).

His behaviour needs to stop. If he's not willing to move past it properly, and that includes not using it as a stick to beat you with for the next two years, then he needs to leave. Or you do.

Either way, you don't deserve this life just because you've done something silly during trauma that you're literally rectifying!

VinterKvinna · 02/02/2021 15:27

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.

as @MizMoonshine said
Imagine your teenage daughter going without tampons at dad's house because she didn't prioritise her finances?

Why are you married if you are not a team?

MsPeachh · 02/02/2021 15:27

Will he expect you to be 50/50 when you’re on maternity leave or paying for childcare costs btw? Alarm bells ringing...

wishes1111 · 02/02/2021 15:27

Thank you to everyone who has posted.

I understand everyone's points of view and I don't blame him for being angry, I would have been too. I would have felt betrayed, upset, angry but I'd like to think that I could of forgiven if he changed like I did, and move on as a team.

Yes, I am under a psychiatric team and have new antidepressants which are helping.

I have told him over and over how sorry I am and I have backed this up by taking responsibility and changing, I swapped the shopping habit for exercise and yoga instead to try and improve my mental health.

In reality, how much more can I do? I made a terrible mistake out of utter devastation and bad mental health. I'm trying my hardest to rectify this.

We split the bills 60/40 but I am still left with with next to nothing, I can't remember when I last purchased anything for myself, even anything little like a lipstick or a top for example.

I can't remember who said about eating out for work, I meant to be able to buy yoghurts etc to take my own lunch from home.

OP posts:
wintermoths · 02/02/2021 15:28

Your husband is not a nice man. Yes the hidden debt was crap, but you know that, are making amends, are remorseful and do have a context to why it happened.

When shit happens it tells you whether the person you are with is worth being with. And your husband isn't. It is not possible for you to live in such penury for two years and if he loved you, he would not want you to. I would be ashamed to have £40k salary but to tell my wife I did not care is she could not afford sanitary protection.

I would say this has shown you who he really is. Do you really want to be with him?

nothisagain · 02/02/2021 15:28

Please don't try for a baby with this man.

At least not until you have resolved this. He's using this as a stick to beat you with and its sick. How can he say "I will resent you and treat you like shit until x date when the debt is paid off" how can he keep that up? does he just switch it on and off like that? Or will he just find something else that gives him an excuse to punish you?

Yes you were wrong in what happened but he can't forgive and stay with you whilst at the same time punishing you and treating you badly. It's toxic and horrible of him and absolutely not ok.

TBH this whole relationship doesn't sound like much of a partnership.

Shodan · 02/02/2021 15:28

Has it occurred to him that if your rent and bills were split more fairly, proportionate to your incomes, that you would be able to pay off your debts more quickly? That the reason that he has been able to afford his far greater savings is because you're subsidising him?

I can understand him feeling upset that you kept your depression quiet and dealt with it by spending. But I don't think he has much moral right to feel too badly, given the above.

Also- I don't think you said- were you already married when you ran up this debt? If you were, and given his behaviour over it, I'm wondering if he knew you were suffering, and if so, he gave you any help with that?

Tbh, he doesn't sound like someone you should be having a family with. I echo pps concerns about how he'll view the finances once you're on maternity leave.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 02/02/2021 15:28

Well quite but it's a situation of 'shit or get off the pot' then, isn't it? Not holding it over OP's head like some sort of sword of Damocles.

RedskyBynight · 02/02/2021 15:28

Stepchange will have worked out debt repayment values based on OP's other financial commitments (and she only mentions paying half of rent, not other bills or things like food, so not sure why everyone has jumped to financial abuse).

If OP is genuinely struggling, she should speak to Stepchange to look at adjusting her payments. I wonder if her DH is refusing to help because he thinks she should be able to afford things?

Secret debt would be a deal breaker for me, but I would have left OP at that point. If I had stayed, I would absolutely not be helping to pay it off, which DH indirectly would be if people thinks he should be subsidising her.

WishingHopingThinkingPraying · 02/02/2021 15:29

I understand him being upset but no good person treats their partner like he's treating you.

Your problem is not your debt. It's that your DH is using it to abuse you and make you feel like shit.

rawalpindithelabrador · 02/02/2021 15:29

Are you hanging onto him because you feel it's your last chance to have a baby? Because he's been mistreating you a long time with this 50/50 crap. That's what you do with flatmates; with partners it's proportional so no one is out of pocket more than the other. That was probably not your first sign, either, than he doesn't see this as a partnership but a business transaction. That's no kind of environment to bring a child into, sadly Sad. This type of behaviour will worsen.

Calmandmeasured1 · 02/02/2021 15:29

I didn't comment on the difference in salaries because, as you have stated you pay half the rent plus your phone, I assume your husband pays all the other bills including food. I assume this is something you have previously agreed as an amicable financial split.

MrsTerryPratchett · 02/02/2021 15:29

What is the plan for baby finances, OP?

rawalpindithelabrador · 02/02/2021 15:30

Stepchange will have worked out debt repayment values based on OP's other financial commitments (and she only mentions paying half of rent, not other bills or things like food, so not sure why everyone has jumped to financial abuse).

Because she's not a flatmate! She's his wife who earns significantly less than he does. And he's continuing to treat her like shit and outright telling her he'll continue to treat her like shit.

Shmithecat2 · 02/02/2021 15:31

@Whatisthisfuckery

Well he’s a fine one to bitch n you about debt while he’s busy financially fucking you over too. He earns nearly twice what you do yet expects you to pay 50% of rent/bills? He’s a piece of work if ever there was one. he’s a nasty little parasite himself. It’s easy to save your money when you’re financially fucking over your wife, innit mate?

OP your H is an emotionally and financially abusive piece of crap.

👏👏👏👏👏👏 this, in spades.
Gson · 02/02/2021 15:31

So sorry that you have gone through what you have.

My DP had 10k of debt a long time ago. I loaned him the money to pay it off so he didn’t incur interest huge amounts of interest charges. He paid me every single penny back - there is absolutely no way I would have paid it off for him.

Mumdiva99 · 02/02/2021 15:32

You did make a massive mistake but he either needs to forgive you and move on or leave.

My husband (bf at the time) made a really bad business decision which left us paying a bill for years and years. Because of that we couldn't move house. I wS really annoyed because if he'd made the choices I advised we would have made a lot of money and not had the debt. However, he made the decision to the best of his ability at the time. He didn't mean it to go the way it did and he was as annoyed as me. I either had to support him while he tried to fix it, or split from him. What I couldn't do was rub it in his face day after day. That is both toxic and belittling. I think you need a serious chat with him. He needs to stop.

SarahAndQuack · 02/02/2021 15:32

I would resent you, I've got to say For the lying as much as the debt. I'd also find it incredibly cheeky for you to be saying you'd forgive him debt in a heartbeat. That's awfully easy to say when you don't have to do it, but I also think - to me - it would be a constant reminder you don't take money seriously. Not thinking for a heartbeat was what got you into this situation, if you see what I mean.

IMO it is wrong for people to say you didn't take anything from him. My partner had debt with stepchange; it has had a serious impact on our chances of getting a mortgage and her bad credit rating may affect mine. I am not happy with my DP although the debt was incurred before we got together. I would be beyond furious if it had happened during a relationship. In my view it is akin to stealing from him.

I also have to say - if you're short of money for food/tampons, why are you short of money? Do you still mismanage your money? Honestly?

If you really don't think you do, then no he absolutely shouldn't be saying 'sort it out yourself'. OTOH if you've no money because you bought a treat, he sort of has a point. Having been in his position, I wonder if he thinks (even if he's wrong) that you're still over spending.

I don't think you should be paying half of the rent; you should pay in proportion to earnings.

I know I sound as if I'm coming down almost all in favour of your husband, but I'm saying it because I think it maybe shows how what seems obvious to you (eg. that you'd forgive him a debt) could be part of what is upsetting him so much. I wonder if the two of you are basically just miscommunicating here? You say your DP keeps bringing up the debt. Do you ever bring it up? Eg spontaneously mentioning you feel crap about it, or telling him you've paid off another chunk, or being proactive about working out when you'll get the defaults off your credit record? Maybe he needs to hear that stuff come from you, and that's why he brings it up?

I think when you're with someone who's got into debt and hidden it, you're always waiting to see if they're going to make changes, rather than feeling you're waiting for the other shoe to drop.

PurpleMustang · 02/02/2021 15:32

I can understand if he had felt like that initially but as you have been doing so well he should be cheering you on not still digging away at you. Can I just say I am worried that you are actively trying to get pregnant with him. Has the finances of mat leave and the baby stuff been spoken of? Please don't get pregnant and then find out he has unrealistic expectations of what you money will cover / what he will contribute

RedskyBynight · 02/02/2021 15:33

crossposted with you saying you split bills 60/40.

Salary of £24000 will be take home of around £1600
Salary of £40000 will be take home of around £2500
(both depending on pension contributions)

A 60/40 split is basically a proportional split based on take home pay. So that seems fair.

Pineapples3 · 02/02/2021 15:33

Yeah I’d be pissed off with my OH, for about a minute then when I took everything into consideration and saw how stressed & upset he was about it I wouldn’t be a dick. The people you love & their mental health are more important than money, people tend to forget that.

Annabell80 · 02/02/2021 15:33

I can understand him being upset but the fact he's decided he'll keep up this vile behaviour until the debt is cleared shows what a cunt he is.
Also the fact he's happy for you to go without lunch or tampons is abusive.
I think you'd be happier if you left him as you're already dealing with it on your own.
Yes he can be lovely, that's what abusive people do. Hurt you until you're at breaking point, then show you love so you trust them again, once you do the abuse starts again.
Has he given you any support for your miscarriage?

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