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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:
ilovesooty · 02/02/2021 15:39

@samanthawashington

He had the right to be angry initially but now he is just abusing you and using your past to control and humiliate you. A loving husband would forgive you. A loving husband would pay off the debt because he could see how hard this has been for you. A loving husband wouldn't abuse you emotionally in this way.

Bide your time. Pay off the debt and then divorce. Do not have children that will tie you to him. He needs out of your life.

I think I'm pretty well in agreement with that. You have owned what happened, which in any case had its roots in grief rather than fecklessness. The betrayal he expresses won't change once the debt is paid off. Either he accepts what has happened and your commitment to putting it right or he doesn't.
Natsel84 · 02/02/2021 15:40

@Bluntness100

I’m on the fence. The op lied and hid this from him for a long time. I’d be fuming about that. As much as he needs to accept and not comment, I can see why he’d be upset about it

But the op has to pay it off herself. She’s doing this and it seems she’s doing well and that’s great, but he should not be expect to give his savings to her to pay it off for her. And that’s really where she’s going with it.

I agree with this , although I think it's really great you've taken the right steps to clear off your debt , your husband shouldn't have to feel like he should pay off all your remaining debt with his savings, yes he should help you out if your short of things towards the end of the month, but if hes going to keep this against you though, I cant see it working out in the long run .

How long do you have left with step change ?

wishes1111 · 02/02/2021 15:41

I pay 40 to his 60 towards the home. However I do pay the council tax which is £170 in our area, my car and insurance, diesel, (that we both use), a majority of the food shopping and our dogs insurance and food (£25 a month).

I'm not actively trying, we were using condoms and it split without us realising, a positive test 4 weeks later but it ended within 3 weeks after. I am due to have coil fitted next month.

OP posts:
CharlotteRose90 · 02/02/2021 15:43

I’m not trying to be rude but I honestly think you shouldn’t be trying for kids until you’ve paid the debt off if he acts like this. I can guarantee if you do your maternity pay will end up on the rent and your debt only and then you’ll be coming on here like the other ladies saying he won’t pay for this and that. He will punish you as he feels his money is his and yours is yours.

C8H10N4O2 · 02/02/2021 15:43

your husband shouldn't have to feel like he should pay off all your remaining debt with his savings

No but he should be paying his share of household bills instead of letting the OP pay a disproportionate amount from her much smaller salary.

wishes1111 · 02/02/2021 15:44

I've got another 2 years left with stepchange. I'm paying off almost every penny I have left over so this can be over quicker.

We've been together since teenagers and I don't want to lose our marriage but all I'm asking for is forgiveness for something I did when mentally I was on the floor suffering from grief.

I get statements from stepchange every month which I show him to show I'm keeping up payments.

OP posts:
cooldarkroom · 02/02/2021 15:45

Also, ,financially he would be better off repaying the debt & you pay him, all the interest would be saved. which is what someone who loved you would do.
Incidentally, & I know its a tiny money saver, but have you tried a mooncup ?

RedskyBynight · 02/02/2021 15:45

No but he should be paying his share of household bills instead of letting the OP pay a disproportionate amount from her much smaller salary.

OP has said they pay 60/40 - which is in proportion to their take home pay.

MullinerSpec · 02/02/2021 15:45

As much as I feel for you I can understand your husbands point of view too. There should be no secrets in a marriage. You are married and from that perspective its your husbands debt too. Everything is shared in a marriage whether that's savings or debts. Thats my personal view. I do however think that your husband should clear your debts for you if he can but you have to remember that this is going to affect your futures he may have been saving that money for you both.

Sonders · 02/02/2021 15:45

I don't want this to sound blasé - but in the scheme of life, £8k isn't a lot to lose in a fuck up.

Yours went on a mental health crisis, but it could have been a written off car, a boiler emergency, and investment gone a bit wrong.

I guess what I'm trying to say get at is that sure, you hid something and that is hurtful - but it doesn't warrant punishment, especially not punishment to this degree. You have a plan, and you're fixing it - which is something to be proud of!

Denny53 · 02/02/2021 15:45

I’m not sure you should be paying half the rent? Doesn’t seem fair to me, he earns almost double? Do you not have a joint account that a percentage of each of your wages gets paid into. All bills should be shared. That’s how it should work?

WagnerTheWehrWolf · 02/02/2021 15:46

He sounds like an unkind man and life with an unkind man will never be very joyful.

IM0GEN · 02/02/2021 15:46

I think you need to stop TTC right away. You are in an unhappy and unstable marriage and that will only be made worse by having a baby.

Also practically - if you have to pay 50% of everything how will it work when you are on maternity leave.

After 6 miscarriages ( I’m sorry ) you need some specialist advice. Has your Gp referred you?

I understand that you husband is angry. But I’d buy tampons for a stranger in the street - I can’t imagine letting my nearest and dearest go without. I think he sounds controlling and punishing. It seems to have gone beyond letting you take responsibility for your own choices.

Shmithecat2 · 02/02/2021 15:47

@wishes1111

I've got another 2 years left with stepchange. I'm paying off almost every penny I have left over so this can be over quicker.

We've been together since teenagers and I don't want to lose our marriage but all I'm asking for is forgiveness for something I did when mentally I was on the floor suffering from grief.

I get statements from stepchange every month which I show him to show I'm keeping up payments.

You can't live like that. Your his wife, meant to be his equal. He has a right to be disappointed, but not continue to make you feel like shit and continue to use his disappointment as a stick to beat you with. That's abusive. You've owned up about the debt, and you're now owning the situation. He should be satisfied with that.
CuriousaboutSamphire · 02/02/2021 15:47

So you pay MORE than he does into the family pot?

Your car - yet you both use it
Food shopping - that you both eat
Pet shopping - for family pets
Birthday presents - for both sides fo the family? Christmas too?
And half of the rent!

Sweetheart. Wake up. Stop letting him make you believe that what you did was in anyway terrible. It wasn't, it isn't. And you seem to be doing well getting it cleared and your head around the reasons why you spent so much.

But this man is not treating you like an equal. Every post you make ads something to the nature of his not doing that.

Most of all he makes you unhappy!

You don't have to put up with that! Really you don't!

Soubriquet · 02/02/2021 15:48

Yes! Please don’t have a baby with him

I could see you being down to your last £10, needing formula and nappies and he refuses to help because your “maternity pay is supposed to pay for this”

bellver888 · 02/02/2021 15:49

this stinks of domestic abuse, refusing to help you out buying some yoghurts? what the fuck

OP, you’ve made a mistake and you’re clearing your debt which is amazing, do another good thing and fuck him off, you don’t need punishing for this

Anotheruser02 · 02/02/2021 15:49

You made this mess, you are clearing this mess PP's are right he is not a victim here.
Being married doesn't deny you the right to be a normal imperfect adult, you will make other (different) mistakes in the future because people do.

I racked up debts once (£14k) when I was on a lower income than you and a single parent, it was stressful facing it and making a plan, and very demoralising at times sticking with the plan when I couldn't remember the last time I'd had any kind of a treat but if I had someone in my life who was supposed to love me who thought it was his job to punish me further then I would have felt even worse, more panicked and more alone in it. I'm grateful I wasn't married to an arsehole it's never ever preferable to being alone.

TheyIsMyFamily · 02/02/2021 15:51

He agreed to your plan to sort out your debt and you've kept to it.
He also agreed to stay.

I wouldn't stay with him if he was using it as a stick to beat you with whenever he felt like it and thinks he has a free pass to continue to do so for years until it's paid off. That's not a healthy marriage.

I'd sit him down and tell him this.

Gastontehladybird · 02/02/2021 15:51

Don't beat yourself up over this or allow him to make you feel your value as a person is tied to the mistake you made.

You deserve someone who would pick you up when your down. I don't mean financially, just in the sense that once he was aware and over the initial period of finding out, he should be supportive of you.

It reads like he enjoys punishing you himself, watching you go without basics when he's in a position to alleviate it.

He isn't kind OP.

SurvivalIsInsufficient · 02/02/2021 15:51

You did NOT borrow the debt money from HIM.HE is the victim of NOTHING here. This is emotional abuse

Hold on. His wife LIED to him, for years. She hid a very large debt, she hid her spending. She expects him to use his savings to clear her debts.

If this was the reverse and he was the woman, you would not in a million years call her abusive and save all your sympathy for him. You would call him a cheating bastard who should work harder to clear his own debts, and advise getting rid of him.

For me it would be less about the money and more about the lies. I couldn't forgive that easily.

ILikeToMoveItMoveItILikeToMove · 02/02/2021 15:52

Hi OP,

I am so sorry for your losses and the mental health difficulties you have been through. Flowers

I really admire you for admitting you had a problem, dealing with it the right way by reaching out for help and putting a payment plan in place and making positive changes to deal with your depression. You have done all the right things.

Yes you made a mistake and kept it from your husband. You know you were wrong, you have apologised profusely and you are working your way out of it all. Whilst also paying your share of the bills so you are doing everything you possibly can.

In the meantime your husband won’t accept your repeated apologies and uses your mistake as a way to punish you. He intends to continue doing this for at least 2 more years, this is wrong and not healthy. He is not your boss he is your equal in the marriage. You did not owe him the money, it was your problem which you are resolving as quickly as you can. You will not repeat this mistake, you have changed. Yes he has a right to feel hurt by it, but he has absolutely no right to treat you this way. He needs to let this bad feeling go and move on. This is no way to live.

What was he like and is he like when you are going through a bad spell with depression and anxiety? Is he supportive then?
I think you need to take a step back and look at the relationship overall, is this a pattern of behaviour from him? I assume he is not perfect and has made his own mistakes before? Does he admit them and apologise when he has hurt you?
These are things you need to think about and whether you want to carry on in this relationship. Can I gently ask if you think he would be a good and supportive partner and father for example? Would he accept that being a parent is incredibly hard and takes teamwork? Would he treat children fairly when they make mistakes? How would he cope with teenagers who can be incredibly testing? Can you imagine the next 20/30/40 years living with this man?
I’m sorry for all the questions but these are all important things to consider now. He has shown such intolerance it makes me wonder what he would be like under other life stresses and strains.

I wish you luck OP for the future and much happiness. Flowers

EKGEMS · 02/02/2021 15:52

Your debt should be either a dealbreaker to your husband and it ends your marriage or a forgivable mistake that can be worked through not both. His anger and punishment towards you is wrong and two wrongs don't make a right.,You're doing what you can fiscally and under care of psychiatry-well done. If this continues I'd rethink the relationship.

letsjog · 02/02/2021 15:53

I pay 40 to his 60 towards the home. However I do pay the council tax which is £170 in our area, my car and insurance, diesel, (that we both use), a majority of the food shopping and our dogs insurance and food (£25 a month).

Sorry @wishes1111 can you clarify do you pay 40/60 PLUS council tax and food bills?

Can you break down more or less what each of you pay for? It sounds like you're paying more than you should...

luxxlisbon · 02/02/2021 15:53

@wishes1111

I pay 40 to his 60 towards the home. However I do pay the council tax which is £170 in our area, my car and insurance, diesel, (that we both use), a majority of the food shopping and our dogs insurance and food (£25 a month).

I'm not actively trying, we were using condoms and it split without us realising, a positive test 4 weeks later but it ended within 3 weeks after. I am due to have coil fitted next month.

Why do you pay the majority of the food?

Do your bills proportionally equate to the ones he pays? Does the £550 you pay include the bills or is this just rent? How much do you pay to step change?

It is hard to understand if your outgoings leave you with no money, or you are still being irresponsible with the amount you have left over which could perhaps be making your husband question whether you truly grasp the situation.

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