What's up with Whatsit

What has been happening

Please allow me to say that I have withdrawn myself from my husband's checking account. I have done this for a reason. I have also started using a different cell phone company - my husband, my oldest daughter, and myself were all using AT & T and now I am using Cspire. I have divided up all the bills. Why? Because I do not agree with hubby's financial decisions. I would go as far as to say that they are bad decisions, and not just because I disagree with them. They are not bad in themselves, just bad for our situation right now.

What got me started was the porch. Hubby wanted a back porch. I thought a porch would be nice, but let's face it, you can't eat a porch. It is non-essential for two teachers in Mississippi with three kids. We were on the brink of survival every month. This is when we were still sharing an account. Hubby went and borrowed the money for the porch, which we are in the process of paying back to the tune of $400 extra a month. Also, some people around the corner from us were selling an SUV. This is a nice SUV with perks, like a DVD player. Hubby wanted it. His rationale was that we could drive my mother and grandmother around in it. He had a CD inherited from his Dad which he borrowed on in order to purchase this vehicle. This added $300 a month.

Did I mention that we were already just paying bills and buying groceries?

I went with this plan for a while. I'm trying to remember how long I did go with it: let's see, we bought the car in April 2009. On November 1, 2011, I opened my own checking account. That's a year and a half.

I decided he could pay for what he bought: the car and the porch. As far as what we share, if he pays the house note and I pay the utilities, lunch money and groceries, that comes out to about the same amount. If he wanted to sign up to buy anything else I didn't think we could afford, that would be his little red wagon. Also, the cell phone bill was ridiculous every month and I rarely talk on mine. At my job I never have been able to get a signal inside the building, so I had a very real reason besides the finances to leave that company behind. Now he pays his and I pay mine. Oh, and by the way his bill is still as much as it was before I left. He has had it cut off several times for being unable to pay it. He can be very persuasive - he has always been able to talk them into turning it back on. I don't know how he does it, but all of that is up to him now.

Also, my car broke down. It is ten years old and we are about to make the last payment on if, after which I am driving it until it croaks or I do. My mother very kindly paid to have mine fixed. There was a problem with the ignition. Well, now his car is broken down. My mother has very kindly offered him my grandmother's car to drive around. His broken-down car is very naturally sitting in the driveway, since my mother just got through paying for one car repair and is not inclined to pay for another one, for which I blame her not one iota. I am thankful she had mine fixed, otherwise we would be completely stranded.

Okay, back to the porch. Remember how we used to owe $400 a month for it? And now HE owes $400 a month for it? I have a small personal loan from the same place. I went by there today to make a payment, and they asked me when he was coming to pay the $800 he owes for the two months he has not paid.

Okay. I said all that to say this:

He thinks I am unreasonable because I think that he should be paying on bills he already owes instead of shopping online to plan a Disneyworld trip this summer. He told me "If we work together, we can make this happen." Which really translates to the fact that he expects me to pay for it and will probably ask my mother if she wants to contribute.

He has no idea how much is in his checking account right this minute. I don't either. He asked me this evening how much was in there and I told him I had no idea, that I had not fooled with his account since November and that I did not even remember the account number.

I have no intention whatever of supporting him in his bad financial decisions. Not at all!