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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:
hellsbellsmelons · 21/01/2020 09:14

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 think you are vastly underestimating the strength and resolve of a lot of women.
We are making a stand.
We are not accepting shitty behaviour anymore.
We are finding our voices and our worth.

You have a plan now and I really hope it does work out for you.
But if he does anything like this again then please get him gone.

Whynosnowyet · 21/01/2020 09:48

I threw exh out.
So I can def suggest /recommend it op!!

sarahjconnor · 21/01/2020 09:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ItsARaveDave · 21/01/2020 10:07

I think you are vastly underestimating the strength and resolve of a lot of women

Hmm don't really agree with that. You only have to take a look at all the threads on here of countless women putting up with all kinds shitty behaviour. Cheating, domestic violence, drugs, alcohol, prostitutes etc.

OP posts:
Ditsythespider · 21/01/2020 10:47

Ok I’m sat behind a computer screen telling you to leave too, but I’m sat here as someone who was in your situation with someone I loved very much too and I did leave, I left with a baby and a 2 year old with additional needs so Im telling you it can be done.

I did all the things you did, made sure I checked all his mail (with permission) gave dh an allowance sorted all the finances and he still found ways to ruin us financially and then one day I realised I had changed. I’d gone from a fun loving happy responsible person to someone who questioned and nagged my dh every single day about what he was spending. I was someone who controlled the purse strings every single day, while he quite happily breezed through life running up debt knowing his wife would fix it all time and time and time again.
I could never take my eyes off the ball because if I did he would run up debts. I was hospitalised while pregnant with my youngest dc as I almost had a miscarriage so needed emergency surgery and I was in for about 5 days. In the time I was in hospital he had blown about £200 of our savings on a fish tank because he’d always wanted one and some tropical fish. This then cut into our monthly budget phenomenally.
I felt like his mother.

It wasn’t a single massive debt much like you the odd unpaid credit card here and there, CCJ’s for not paying for car parking tickets and then ignoring the letters until there was about £400 debt to them.
I would say it got to the point where about a third of our earnings were going on stupid little debts he kept running up for no reason.
I mean I could make sure he paid the credit cards and bills but it was the stupid other ways he found to run up money.
The final straw for me was when he got a £400 CCJ one summer and by that point I had told him I was no longer using the family money to pay off his debts, if he got any more debts he would have to work overtime in his own time to pay off debts, he got a £400 pound CCJ in the post and paid it off using family savings.
It meant all the nice things I had budgeted to do with my children that summer got cancelled as he had taken the money I had saved to pay his debts off. That made me realise things were never going to improve. He should’ve been a dad who put his children first instead he was literally steeling their money because he was too lazy to sort out his own Finances.

We separated 2 years ago, he has gone on to Run up debts and debts and debts since we separated and I have actually been able to take my children on holiday twice and buy them things that would’ve never been possible with him. I work and run everything and it’s so much easier than working and running everything with my ex in the picture.

I’ll be honest OP two years on I’m still suffering from the debts he got me in to and it still affects my life. Leaving him was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done but now 2 years down the line I realise maybe he did love me, but he didn’t love me enough to be an equal partner and now I believe I had a lucky escape and I can’t imagine what my life would look like now if we were still together but I know it would be stressful.

I know what an awful situation it is to be in it just left me feeling so defeated in the end. I wish you the best.

OutFoxxedByABadger · 21/01/2020 11:01

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.

What if it's just not going to happen that you stay with him with no more debts or lies? Flowers

I'd like to eat all the chocolate in the world and not put on weight, but it's not going to happen. Xxx

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