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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Credit card bill

199 replies

Creditcardshame · 29/12/2021 17:51

I am not sure if AIBU or not here.

We have a good income - DH is the main earner and I work PT. All the money goes into one pot and all the bills and savings come out, we then have our own accounts into which our personal spending money is paid. Our expenditure is quite high because we recently moved house and had some work to do on it. We are not on the breadline.

The savings are joint but DH keeps a close eye on them and I have to get his agreement to transfer any out.

DH has always had more personal spending money because he had more expenses - travel to work, lunches etc whereas I have always WFH. He has WFH since March 2020 but still gets £150 a month more than me.

However, I spend a lot of "my" money on the kids - a magazine, a hot chocolate after swimming, that kind of thing. I also spend my money if our joint account is a bit light.

I set some money aside for Christmas each month out of my spends usually as DH goes mad at the amount I spend. When I stopped buying for his side of the family he agreed with them not to bother with presents anymore, although he does still buy for his mum (which this year was something from Amazon and he used my account). This means the only other present he buys is for me and that is about £50.

I had to use most of my Christmas fund of £600 in November because we had to get an emergency plumber out for a leak. I used my credit card to buy presents etc instead as our joint account was also practically bare - bad month for things needing to be paid out plus DH spent an absolute fortune on the Christmas food (I guess around £500).

My credit card bill is £800 and DH has hit the roof. This breaks down to about £150 on the DC (including things like a Christmas jumper, new Christmas pyjamas etc), £200 on my sister and her family (there are 4 kids), £120 on the Christmas tree, some decorations, stocking Knick knacks and 24 Christmas crackers (we had both of our families over during the Christmas period) we also needed a new table cloth as we have a new table, £90 on presents for his 3 team members (yes, I buy them 🙄), his mum's present £40, my mum and step dad £100 (who do an enormous amount for us in terms of childcare), £40 for my dad and a wine order for £90, there were also small bits like postage for cards abroad.

I had to set out what each item was and who it was for. He says he will only give me £130 towards it for his mum and team (I have also suggested he will need to split the kids' presents and the wine but he is grumbling that he did not "authorise" these payments). It will take me about 3 months to clear the rest and leave me with about £50 a month to spend. Meanwhile we have £20k in savings.

I don't actually think I have spent more than usual, it's just that I usually cover it without any input from him from my personal spends.

OP posts:
LawnFever · 29/12/2021 17:55

For a start off tell him he’s paying for the gifts for his kids out of the £150 a month he gets extra than you.

He’s treating you like a child, £800 is hardly that bad when you’re financially stable, he sounds on the brink of being financially controlling tbh.

HippeePrincess · 29/12/2021 17:56

This set up isn’t fair, Christmas and children’s expenses is a joint expense which should come out of a joint pot if this is how you do finances.
Travel to work shouldn’t come out of personal spends but lunches out should
The plumber shouldn’t have come out of your Christmas fund either it should have been returned to you from either savings or other joint funds.
Your DH seems financially controlling and wanting his cake and eating it too.

MrzClaus · 29/12/2021 17:57

Surely between his contributions for his team / mum of £130, and payback for the emergency plumber from savings (nearly £600?) you'll basically have nearly a nil balance?

Theunamedcat · 29/12/2021 17:58

Umm.why did you pay for repairs for the joint house out of your Christmas savings?

You need more spare money do you have evidence of how much savings you have? Isn't that what savings are for emergency?

Do you put towards savings or just him?

Janeandjohnny · 29/12/2021 18:00

Mmmm. Overall your spending (household) sounds wildly uncontrolled. I get you are not poor but if you have good income why is the account bare? If there are other expenses then budget for these. A lot of your spending goes on non essentials but you cant be blamed as he participates too.

GinIronic · 29/12/2021 18:01

Did he run it past you before he spent £500 on Christmas food?

TheLeadbetterLife · 29/12/2021 18:01

Why didn't you get the money back for the plumber out of the savings? That's what savings are for isn't it? Then you wouldn't have had to use the credit card.

This is a weird set up financially.

billy1966 · 29/12/2021 18:02

This is not good.

He sounds awful.

JSL52 · 29/12/2021 18:04

I'd insist on half the kids present money.
He didn't 'authorise' it. Who the duck does he think he is?
Also I'd want the £600 back for the repairs out of the savings.
I'd say this financial control is a dealbreaker

Katieandthekids · 29/12/2021 18:04

In that bill £0 has been spend on you!

TokyoDreaming · 29/12/2021 18:05

This is not good, he sounds like a knob.

JSL52 · 29/12/2021 18:05

Just re read - why on earth is paying for Christmas down to you ?

LoudSnoringDog · 29/12/2021 18:05

Wtf
Couldn't live like this

lanbro · 29/12/2021 18:06

Your set up is mad, personal spends should literally be for you personally ie hair cut, magazine, girls night out. Anything for the kids should be joint, and definitely Christmas presents are joint.

Your h sounds like a dick, and with 20k.un savings why do you need 3 months to clear the debt, just pay it off in one.

TheLeadbetterLife · 29/12/2021 18:09

If you were hard up, I can see that some of the Christmas expenditure was extravagant.

Are you hard up? Is there a reason the 20k savings are off limits? Why are you using a credit card and having to dig into your personal piggy bank to pay a plumber?

If you're not hard up, your husband is being tight and possibly controlling.

cruffin · 29/12/2021 18:09

This is a really weird set up. Just use your joint account for everything like lunches, commuting costs etc and have the same amount of fun money in your own accounts.

Funnylittlefloozie · 29/12/2021 18:09

Authorise your spending? Who the actual fuck does he think he is? Put your foot down, love, tell him he is not the God of Finance in your house, all payments for the children and the house will be out of the joint account going forward, and he will NOT be controlling your spending like some sort of jumped-up steward any more!

Mojoj · 29/12/2021 18:13

Who the fuck is he to "authorise" your expenditure? How do people live like this, having someone tell them what they can spend the household money on? Time to start itemising how much childcare, cleaning, household duties etc you do and charging the household budget accordingly.

Justkeeppedaling · 29/12/2021 18:14

It's there any reason why both your salaries don't go into one joint account?

babouchette · 29/12/2021 18:18

Why on earth did you have to spend your Christmas fund on the plumber when you've got 20k in savings?!

Daleksatemyshed · 29/12/2021 18:20

What the hell? He's your DH, you're not a child whose being given pocket money. If he's WFH he doesn't need the extra spending money so he should be paying for more, not giving you lectures. I'd be having a very serious conversation with him and/or a rethink about my finances. Stop putting any money into accounts only he can access, shut him out of your Amazon account and only buy for your DC.
What a bloody nerve

RandomMess · 29/12/2021 18:21

Wow this has all got very unbalanced.

You no longer pay for the DC stuff that's a joint expense.

He no longer gets £150 more than you if you both WFH

Angry
Topseyt · 29/12/2021 18:21

I assume (hope) that the savings are in your joint names. So you have equal access.

If so then I would simply be telling him that I was taking the £600 from the savings account to pay into the credit card.

He expects you to come to him for authority to make payments!!?? Who the fuck does he think he is?? It is your money too and you don't need his authority to spend it on emergency home repairs. Fuck that!!

Tell him all of that. Seriously. I once did when my own DH tried to say similar. Suffice to say I shut that bollocks down sharpish and he has never repeated it.

Kaibashira · 29/12/2021 18:21

I'm sorry I haven't read the full thread but on the basis of your OP your husband, and I don't normally advocate the use of all caps, IS A FUCKING DICK.

monkeystockings · 29/12/2021 18:22

Fucking hell. Same amount of spends per month rest goes in joint pot?