Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Advice needed - DH, debt and lies

56 replies

ItsARaveDave · 19/01/2020 11:38

I have name changed as don't want this connected to previous posts. Sorry this is long.

DH and I have been together for 10 years. We have 1 DC who is 3 and another on the way.

DH has a history of lying and hiding things (never anything like cheating etc) surrounding money/debt. He's built up a lot of debt and kept it from me until I have gone looking at his statements or phone and discovered it. Over the past couple of years I have discovered a loan for about £8k and credit card with £6k on that had not been paid for some time. This was on top of other debt that we have jointly. The last time something came out was about 9 months ago (the CC), he promised that was absolutely everything, that he'd sort things out and make sure everything was paid, and that we would both put all our money into our joint account and everything would be paid from there so I knew everything was paid and how much money we had left over. At this same time I started opening his bank statements and hiding them from him, he never even noticed. Now, I know this is wrong (and please don't say it's illegal to open someone else's post, because I had no intention to commit theft or fraud so is an invalid point) but I wanted to keep an eye on things, as he hadn't changed some direct debits over despite saying he would, and didn't hand over his cards, again despite saying he would. Everything was ticking along ok, until December when he didn't pay his credit card bill again, despite going through a big pallava with the credit card company to agree new repayment terms etc. He was also left with £135 balance which was 1 not enough for the credit card payment and 2 not enough for another £320 payment due to come out this month. I didn't say anything as I wanted to see if he would say anything or how be would pay it. He also started using another credit card as the minimum payment started coming out his account again. Don't know why as between us we should have a fair bit of disposable income, he just seems to spend it on crap, coffee, lunch etc (definitely no drinking/gambling/prostitutes before that gets suggested). So Januarys statement came about 2 weeks ago, and again showed the bill was not paid. I didn't say anything straight away but was kept up all night worrying and going over in my head what I would say, how he was going to react etc (normally very defensive/angry). The next morning he received a letter from the credit card company saying he owed them £400+ for missed payments, he seemed bewildered and said he'd had the money in his account and they must have cancelled his direct debit. He seemed sure he'd paid December and checked his online banking to discover he hadn't. I am convinced he only told me what the letter said as I was sat right next to him and saw who it was from, otherwise he'd have ripped it up saying it was nothing and binned it as he has done before. I then admitted what I had done and he hit the roof. He then refused to speak to me for nearly a week. When he did finally talk to me, he said he was sorry for not talking to me about things but he was still sure he'd paid the bill and had enough in his account (not true). He also managed to change all his direct debits into the joint account in 1 day, after months and months of me asking him to. He then said we obviously can't trust each other but did acknowledged that my actions are a result of his actions, and how much anxiety I get over debt and money worries. He said things will take time to get back to normal and learn to trust each other again. Since then he has still barely spoken to me, is still sleeping on the sofa, is being snappy with DC and just generally quite uncaring towards me. His mate rang him to go and play football this morning, he said no my ankle hurts about 10 times, really being resistant to going, then as soon as he put the phone down and I ask him to do me a hot water bottle (back pain), he said actually I'm going to go to football, gone to get changed and fucked off out leaving me feeling like utter shit looking after DC. We've text back and forth a bit and he's saying he doesn't feel like being intimate/normal with me and things will take time. I said time also takes effort and if you're not actively doing anything to sort things out they're not going to get better. He's basically said my choices are put up with this (being ignored etc) or make a decision i.e leave. Now I feel like he is pushing me to end things which I don't want to do and said as much. He said I have a choice. I said I don't, I either put up and shut up or leave and I don't want to do either. I told him to just end things if that's what he wants cos if he's not going to put effort into making things better then it's dead in the water. He thinks hoping they will improve is enough. I don't know where we go from here. I'm really angry at him now and know he is still angry at me. But we've got through this all before, and he's always been so apologetic after and trying to make things up to me, knowing he is in the wrong. But this time I feel like he hates me now. Any advice? And please don't just tell me to LTB as that's just not helpful.

OP posts:
Purplewithred · 19/01/2020 11:47

I just dont get this. He runs up debts and ignores them, effectively stealing from you and DC as his family, and now you are in the doghouse because you sorted it out?

Why do you want to keep the relationship and what do you want to happen/change?

AttilaTheMeerkat · 19/01/2020 11:47

Why do you write that leaving him is not helpful?. What are you getting out of this?.

This is a really crap example of a relationship both for you and for your DC. What do you want to teach your DC about relationships, just what are they learning here from you both?.

What other choice do you really have other than leaving?. Carrying on like this is not an option at all, putting up as you have done has clearly not worked. Someone has to be the grown up here and its clearly not going to be him.

notapizzaeater · 19/01/2020 11:50

What do you actually want ? He's obv not going to change and is blaming you for all of it

Whynosnowyet · 19/01/2020 11:52

I divorced my exh for lying about debt and money...

ItsARaveDave · 19/01/2020 11:53

Why do you want to keep the relationship and what do you want to happen/change?

Because I love him. I know that's not always enough but I don't want to leave him. I just don't want any more debt or lies that's all I want. I'm quite happy to deal with all our finances.

OP posts:
cakecakecheese · 19/01/2020 11:57

I'm baffled. He won't sort himself out, he gets angry if you try to do it. What advice apart from leaving him are you expecting??

Happynewyear22 · 19/01/2020 12:00

He is how he is. You cant change him therefore you will always have debt and lies. You have to accept it or move on. There is no third option of making him deal with finances in an honest an open way. That just isnt him. You have done all you can to change him but you cant. He isnt going to change to your way of doing it anymore than you would change to his way of managing the finances.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 19/01/2020 12:01

"But I Love Him". Four words that are truly your downfall also here. It also shows me just how pathetically low your own relationship bar is.

Do you think he loves you, his actions towards you are not loving ones are they?. What is there to love about this man?. If someone else was writing this, what would your counsel be here?

Are you really and truly confusing love here with codependency?.

Why are his needs here more important than yours or for that matter your DCs?. Your life with him is chaotic and based on shifting sands. This is also no life for your DC to be witness to either.

NotStayingIn · 19/01/2020 12:03

I’m just not sure you can change someone. He doesn’t want to address this. No end of nagging, checking, talking, planning will change that.

He also now knows that he can lie and treat you like shit, even suggest you leave, and you just stay there and take it like some spineless twit.

So not really sure what you will think will motivate him to change?

Fairylea · 19/01/2020 12:07

So what does he think about his finances? How does he propose you both sort it out?

I think he clearly has a completely different attitude to you about debt and I don’t think this is ever going to be resolved because he doesn’t see anything wrong with what he’s done.

NotStayingIn · 19/01/2020 12:07

Maybe to protect yourself financially you could divorce and then still stay together so his ever increasing debt will not drag you down later on. Clutching at straws here sadly.

Cream5 · 19/01/2020 12:08

@ItsARaveDave have you run a credit check on him? Youll need a credit card to hand but get on to experian and find out the "whole truth". Then go from there.

Take his money off him and sort out the repayments yourself.

Scapegoatforlife · 19/01/2020 12:08

He literally has shown you he doesn't give a shit about you or his financial issues. Give yourself a bloody head wobble and get out.

ArranUpsideDown · 19/01/2020 12:10

So not really sure what you will think will motivate him to change?

I have a family member who kept forgiving her similar DH.

That's 20 years of her life she's now given over to the hope that he'll change.

It's an unbelievably sad waste. She even says herself that if he did suddenly change, there's nothing that can make up for the past 30 years. But, of course, he's using the past 30 years as a reason to not change.

ItsARaveDave · 19/01/2020 12:11

It's easier said than done. Telling someone to walk away from behind a computer screen is all well and good and I've probably done it myself on other threads, but when you're in that situation it's not so straight forward. I think a large percentage of people who tell people to leave or say they would leave if they were in the same situation actually wouldn't.

I do want things to be better for our DC, I just don't want them to have divorced parents (before one of then is even born) and I don't want to struggle on my own, financially or otherwise.

OP posts:
Besidesthepoint · 19/01/2020 12:15

You owe it to your children to provide a stable home. To do so you shouldn't share your home or finances with him. You can still be in a relationship, but he needs his own place, his own finances and no ties (so no marrriage) to you and the kids. You can even live next to each other, but that really is the only way forward if you don't want to leave him.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 19/01/2020 12:17

You are choosing to stay because it is really for your sake rather than anyone else's. You are also pregnant, even more vulnerable and you're struggling now emotionally and financially. Just where do you think this whole situation is going to end up?. It is not down to you to solve his debt crises for him.

If you do not want your DC to have divorced parents (why is that so bad?) then you have made a choice therefore to stay with this feckless man who has and will continue to drown you all under a debt mountain. Some legacy that is to leave your own self let alone these children.

Toomanycats99 · 19/01/2020 12:18

If you are in your own you can provide a much more stable environment.

It does not sound in anyway that he has learnt and will stop spending.

My ex had a spending issue and do you know its only once he left I realised how much he spent on crap that goes absorbed into the general household spending.

He only pays 40% of what he did when he lived here and I am better off financially than I was before!

ItsARaveDave · 19/01/2020 12:20

I have checked his credit report (with his permission) and there is nothing new on there that I didn't know about.

He now seems more willing to accept handing over financial stuff to me.

I know it's all his doing, he chose to take on debt and lie etc etc but I do believe he has undiagnosed ADHD which I know can cause trouble dealing with finances in adults. He also didn't have the best role models in his parents, when his mom and dad separated he had to take his mom to the ATM and show her how to use a debit card because she didn't know, as his dad had kept it from her and all their money went in the pub. I think this, in part, was why he was so reluctant to hand over the reigns to me. He sees it as controlling.

We can and will get out of this hole in terms of debt. He's earning better money now than he was before so we will overpay on the highest interest loan first, get that gone then move on to the next. We will hopefully also be able to get some savings behind us. He's due a little windfall soon too which will be going on the credit card.

I know he has shown he doesn't respect me, or give a shit. I just want to believe that we are enough to make him change. I know that's naive of me.

OP posts:
JKScot4 · 19/01/2020 12:26

Bingo!
Undiagnosed ADHD, bad childhood!
Please do not excuse his lies and deceit, he’s an adult who is capable of making decisions. The only way forward is for you to take over all the finances, start with taking his CC off him& working out a budget and clearing the debts.

ItsARaveDave · 19/01/2020 12:27

I don't think him moving out will help in the slightest, as it would be more expenses that we definitely don't need. We can't afford double of everything. That money would be better spent on paying off the debts. I also can't afford anywhere on my own, he earns double what I do and we would have trouble selling up anyway (next door is not having any luck and their house is bigger than ours).

OP posts:
Oliversmumsarmy · 19/01/2020 12:29

How many times and how long are you prepared to do this for if you don’t kick him out.

The trust has gone.

I take it this is not the first time that this has happened and I can assure you that it won’t be the last

You will never know what is real and what is fake.
You can never believe what he says.

All that will happen over the years is the debts and the lies will get bigger and bigger each time

You can’t plan on anything or rely on anything

Is that how you want to live your life.

He is a grown up. Why do you have to come to the rescue each time to get him back on track

Fairylea · 19/01/2020 12:33

The one thing I will say is be very careful he does not take out any secured loans on your property. Otherwise you can effectively see any equity you have - which is yours and the children’s security - withering away before your eyes.

ItsARaveDave · 19/01/2020 12:33

I know it seems like I'm just coming up with excuses but like I said, it's easier said than done to just leave.

I'm not excusing what he's done, it is his own doing and I have said as much.

He's handed over all the cards, took his card off Google pay on his phone, only has the joint account card, has given me his online banking details and credit report log in details.

I have done a spreadsheet of our income and expenditure, we should have £1000 each month to put towards debt (we have recently got funded nursery hours so this is more than it was previously).

OP posts:
Oliversmumsarmy · 19/01/2020 12:44

Why are you doing this.

You are putting yours and your dcs life on hold to clear his debt.

Do you like rescuing people?

What are you going to do the next time when it is £20k of debt and the next time when it is £40k

It will never end