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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

Money disappearing

272 replies

HorseyJeff · 14/08/2024 14:30

Money has always been an issue for DH and me.

We're not married, but have been together 12 years. When we first got together we earned similar, and had low salaries. I now greatly out-earn DH, but put a bunch of money in my pension.

In the past few years we've landed on this arrangement: Day to day I cover all the major bills, and he is left to pick up the food shop and small days out. There is backstory I can go into if people think it's relevant.

He also has his own private expenses of child maintenance, savings for himself and his child, and a car loan, which add up to a maximum of £1000 per month. But I believe his take home is around £1900 per month, meaning he has £900 to pay for food shops and days out.

However, more and more his money isn't lasting until the end of the month and I can't figure out what he is spending it on. Part of me thinks : don't worry, we're doing fine financially. But the other part of me is annoyed how his entire salary gets spent in 2-3 weeks.

He has always been shit with money, and when I brought it up in the past he gets annoyed and defensive saying he doesn't earn as much as me and do I want him to give me all his money and I just give him back an allowance (which I don't).

However, now, it doesn't even seem like he is buying anything and yet he already says he will run out of money before the end of the month (He was paid on the first day of August). It is even odder this month as he hasn't had to do any big food shop because we were gifted a voucher that we've been using to pay for food. When he runs out of money, I basically have to top him up by paying for the things he is supposed to pay for.

I don't have access to his accounts. I wonder if he could have a secret debt or secret gambling issue. At the same time, maybe I'm out of touch as £50 here and there just adds up. He has also bought a few small bits for the house.

FWIW we both WFH and spend most of our free time together, so I don't think he has a secret life of drug taking or other woman. I'm also there at the food shops, which cost about £100 for a main shop and then small top ups.

Other than asking him: is there a way to get to the bottom of this, or signs to look out for? Or am I being unreasonable, and I should just ignore it? Is it worth asking him when he'll just get defensive and lie if it is something bad (like gambling) and I won't be any wiser?

He struggled with credit card debt and what I can only describe as a shopping addiction in the past. But I thought we were through that - he paid off the debt, has an excellent credit rating, and isn't buying lots of things like he did before.

Sorry for the long post. I wanted to keep this one short 😔

OP posts:
Atethehalloweenchocs · 14/08/2024 16:50

2 possibilities - he is spending on what you usually spend on, but it is taking more money to do this.

Or he is spending on something which is draining off money he would have spent on other things. Gambling or gaming would be my guess if it is this.

If it is option one, and you say you are worried about your joint finances, why would he not be open to sitting down and looking at this together? his defensiveness is a concern.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 14/08/2024 16:50

I don’t think it’s that much money.

Your food bill is probably 140/50 per week,

Which over a month is about £630. Then his bits and bobs. Plus petrol for your trips out. And everything is double the price it was.

Why don’t you have transparent spending?

Cityboatbreakawaaayyy · 14/08/2024 16:50

Does he pay into a work pension ?
That may be the missing money or another savings account

peachgreen · 14/08/2024 16:52

I keep a close track on my budget and pay for things from different pots so I have a really good idea of where everything goes. If I add up my grocery bill and my days out fund it’s about the same as my mortgage and household bills. It used to be significantly less. Things have really changed.

I would re-examine your arrangement, to be honest. It doesn’t feel fair and it’s clearly leading to resentment on both sides.

whynotwhatknot · 14/08/2024 16:53

how much is he putting in savings an is he paying maintenance throug cms

900 wont get you very far to be fair

BuddhaAtSea · 14/08/2024 16:56

I think you're right to be annoyed @HorseyJeff .
He comes across as what we call a cocklodger. You're subbing him. He pays no rent, no bills, and can only pay for 2 week's worth of groceries.And I wouldn't mind doing it for a bit, but it's been years.
What are you going to do about it?

Gall10 · 14/08/2024 16:57

one word….gambling. I’d say online gambling but that’s 2 words!

Didsomeonesaydogs · 14/08/2024 16:59

AnnaSewell · 14/08/2024 16:22

Now it's much easier to pick up parcels from delivery points. So you won't necessarily know if he's ordered stuff online.

I used to work with a guy who had a shoe addiction. He got them delivered to the office.

bonzaitree · 14/08/2024 16:59

Why not set up a fully transparent system. You have a shared spreadsheet where you add all your spending. That way you can see where everything is going and try and work out where the issue is.

StickItInTheFamilyAlbum · 14/08/2024 17:02

HorseyJeff · 14/08/2024 14:55

Thank you for the replies!

I agree @Aquamarine1029, and I've chosen not to marry him for this reason. It feels like I've slept-walked into this place a bit.

I'm a bit of a push over and like an easy life where everyone is just happy and getting on with things, but it sounds like I'll have to take a stand and be firm with this issue.

The government is considering bringing in financial protections for cohabiting partners.

Would you be affected if that were to happen, OP?

Didsomeonesaydogs · 14/08/2024 17:03

£900 really doesn’t go that far. My grocery bill is £300 most months and it’s just me on my own.

Add a couple of days or evenings out, a few bits of clothing and a couple of takeaways and there wouldn’t be much left.

invisiblecat · 14/08/2024 17:05

£900 a month?

£100 a week on food is easily do-able for two people. So what is he doing with the other £500 a month?

He is starting to verge onto cocklodger territory.

Shuttersun · 14/08/2024 17:06

I don’t think £900 is a lot. I spend about £500 on food for me and my child and then there are other expenses beyond ‘major bills’. What about travel, lunches, snacks, coffees, pint with a friend etc etc. It all adds up

Iwasafool · 14/08/2024 17:06

HorseyJeff · 14/08/2024 15:12

This is what I'm worried about. The big food shop from Aldi/Lidl is definitely around £100, sometimes it is £120, and sometimes it is only £80. We also do top-up shops from Waitrose or Sainsbury, which feel extortionate in comparison (£30 for a few bits). We bought 3 cans of fizzy soft drinks from a National Trust site on the weekend, and that came to £11 (we have a membership, so didn't need to pay for entry).

So part of me worries I'm underestimating everything. Or worrying about a missing £200. This is why I tended to ignore it in the past, coupled with the fact that we're a happy unit and we're not struggling financially. Plus just my general hate of conflict!

However, there are occasions like this month when I really wonder what's going on. Plus I don't like the thought of him secretly taking the piss.

It is hard to say isn't it. I am frequently mystified at the end of the month about where my money has gone and then I go through my statements and maybe I've forgotten I taxed the car, bought a wedding present for a friend, had friends to stay for the weekend and spent a small fortune in Sainsbury's and suddenly I see where my money has gone. The only way to work it out is going through the statements so it comes down to do you want to do that and would he let you?

AlexandraPeppernose · 14/08/2024 17:08

Aquamarine1029 · 14/08/2024 16:14

Why is it he's such a low earner after all these years? You have been able to progress, why hasn't he?

Edited

I wouldn't call £1900 a month take home as low earning. It's a little below average but not substantial.

I have a similar arrangement to the OP with me covering the food, petrol and odds and sods and as a family of 5 we have had to relook at our finances as I'm running out of money way before the end of month. Our average weekly shop is upwards of 160 per week at the moment

Shuttersun · 14/08/2024 17:09

On another note I highly doubt he’s maintenance is £600. My ex was earning close to £100k and it was around about this.

theemmadilemma · 14/08/2024 17:09

Wanting him to focus on budgeting is one thing, but right now you don't understand if he's wasting money or not.

I can run through money like a drain without realising how quickly it's adding up. I'm nearly 50 and still working on it!

I hate doing the money talk, but when it comes to living together and jointly paying for things you should be able to go through what he's spending that money on openly. He should either be able to demonstrate it's a struggle with that budget, or he can't and you find the gap.

Shuttersun · 14/08/2024 17:12

In fact I just went on CMS and calculated it and he’d need to earn £70k and NEVER have her any overnights to owe £600

PADDY17 · 14/08/2024 17:13

I may get backlash for this but should your money not all be the one? Would you earn double his salary? Do you have kids together?
If it were the other way around and partner was earning more than you and posted this, he would be slated on here.

Xmasbaby11 · 14/08/2024 17:14

As pp say, £900 a month is not a lot for food shopping and other family stuff as well as personal spends. With you earning so much more than him, have you discussed how much you are both willing and able to contribute?

If he keeps running out of money, the obvious answer is to both put an agreed amount of money in a joint account. It may be clearer to him that the money is non negotiable and if he wants to spend more than that, it's his debt rather than asking you for money.

Iwasafool · 14/08/2024 17:15

Shuttersun · 14/08/2024 17:12

In fact I just went on CMS and calculated it and he’d need to earn £70k and NEVER have her any overnights to owe £600

Maybe he is a dad who pays above the minimum. That's the ideal isn't it?

Loloj · 14/08/2024 17:17

Hmm I don’t think £900 a month is a lot of money once you take out the food shop. Lots of other bits and pieces do add up.

So assume £100 per week for main Lidl/aldi shop then an extra £50 on top-ups. That’s £600 right there (and that’s 4 weeks so technically less than a month). That only leaves £300. Deduct petrol, even if this is only £20 a week that leaves £220. That leaves approx £50 a week for day to day spending - which is not a lot at all (less than £10 a day). So any new clothes, shoes and day to spending has to come out of that. I can see why he is running out of money before the end of the month.

Aquamarine1029 · 14/08/2024 17:18

PADDY17 · 14/08/2024 17:13

I may get backlash for this but should your money not all be the one? Would you earn double his salary? Do you have kids together?
If it were the other way around and partner was earning more than you and posted this, he would be slated on here.

If it were the other way around and partner was earning more than you and posted this, he would be slated on here.

Not by me he wouldn't if the situation were the same. If the op and her partner had children and he was the stay at home parent, or only worked part-time due to childcare, there would be absolutely nothing amiss with their situation.

Ophy83 · 14/08/2024 17:19

Could you work out what the shopping etc should cost per month and get him to transfer that to a joint account, so then he knows that money left in his own account is for his personal spending?

MounjaroUser · 14/08/2024 17:19

So you pay for absolutely everything except food and now he wants you to pay that? He's pretty blatantly taking the piss out of you.

I would consider whether I wanted to stay with him. If I did, I'd do it on condition he showed me his accounts and that he never ever asked me to top up the food bill again.

If I didn't (most likely) then I'd wish him good luck and goodbye.