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Financial Independence should I get divorced to gain my financial Independence

(54 Posts)
tippex50 Fri 02-Oct-15 09:54:29

I am struggling with being financially supported by my husband for the last 2 years. I have tried really hard to find work but it is not happening and after spending all my savings in 2012/2013 to sustain our lifestyle I am now receiving what seems like pocket money from the other half. I have had a few medical problems but am now on the mend however although I love my husband I cannot stand being supported by him. I do not know what to do?
I feel I might be cutting off my nose to spite my face but on the other hand I would be able to stand on my own two feet somehow. I have always worked and always supported myself never had any help from family or friends so this is really f* my head up. I don't know what to do and feel quite suicidal.

Alea Fri 02-Oct-15 17:05:55

This sounds like desperation, tippex50
If you are suffering from depression and having problems coping when you do not have to shoulder the whole domestic burden yourself, how on earth do you think you will cope on your own?
Have you done any sums to assess the practicality of what you are contemplating?
Maybe I could find someone..., this is a joke, or is it? You now add that you feel he has "Used you for money and for sex", really? I am afraid I find this hard to take at face value. You also say you have a chronic condition, does this make you unfit to work? Do you claim JSA or ESA?
The grass is NOT always greener and you could find yourself very much worse off unless you have a sugar daddy in mind and are just looking for peer approval of your plan.

Riverwalk Fri 02-Oct-15 16:49:13

From what you say tippex

maybe find someone who has a bit more bread ...

It seems that you're really more aggrieved at reduced circumstances rather than being reliant on your husband.

Elegran Fri 02-Oct-15 16:20:59

"I cannot stand being supported by him."
"I just don't like the fact that he pays for everything i'm used to paying half since we met.
If I was on my own then I would have to pay for everthing even if it was from social security then I would feel better (I think)."
No, you wouldn't feel any better because you wouldn't have any more than you have now. You still would have no job, and you would have ALL your bills to pay out of whatever you received in benefits.

"he is giving me what he has left but it is a quarter of what I usually spend I cannot handle it." so what is really bothering you is not being dependent on your husband, but the fact that you now have only a quarter to spend on yourself as you had before. If he gives you what he has left after the bills are paid, he can't be spending much on himself, can he, so he is as badly off as you are.

"after spending all my savings in 2012/2013 to sustain our lifestyle" Perhaps it would have been better to trim down your lifestyle then and keep your savings intact. To late to regret it, now is the time to stop sustaining that lifestyle, and start cutting your coat according to your cloth.

If you love him, now is also the time to discuss with him how you can do this by working as a team to spend your money effectively, not the time to split up and find yourselves not only hard up but also lonely and unhappy. By "your" I mean the money that is in your partnership, and is not "his" or "hers" but "ours".

You are a pair, act as a pair. No need for exact half-and-half divisions between a genuine couple. Yoiu share the good times, you share the bad.

LaraGransnet (GNHQ) Fri 02-Oct-15 16:07:27

Hi tippex50

Sorry to hear you're going through such a tough time and great to see gransnetters rallying as usual.

We hope you don't mind, but when these threads are flagged up to us we usually add a link to our Mental Health resources - here. You can also go to the Samaritans' website here, or email them on [email protected]. Support from other gransnetters is great and we really hope you will be able to take some comfort from your fellow posters, but as other gransnetters have already advised, it's really a good idea to seek real life help and support as well.

We also like to remind everyone that, although we're amazed daily by the support our members give each other through life's trickier twists and turns, we'd always caution anyone never to give more of themselves to another poster, emotionally or financially, than they can afford to spare.

Sorry for hijacking your thread tippex, and we really hope things start to look up for you soon. flowers

tippex50 Fri 02-Oct-15 15:13:58

Thanks annsixty I think you are right and I am depressed again.

It really hit me this week that nothing has changed and I have been trying very hard since last June when I had counselling.

We are going out tonight so I will use this as an opportunity to speak to him again and see where we can go from here.

I will update tommorow.

soontobe Fri 02-Oct-15 15:11:29

I think you need to go to your GP.
I think that you need to say to him/her that your financial circumstances are not good.

I presume you are claiming any benefits that you are entitled to?

annsixty Fri 02-Oct-15 15:02:23

You just sound very depressed to me. No light at the end of the tunnel. No answer from me I'm afraid.

tippex50 Fri 02-Oct-15 14:55:54

Soontobe

I will talk to him again but I have discussed this all with him before up to a couple of months ago. He also has counselling about other issues which has affected our relationship.

We can talk but it does not seem to solve anything.

Mostly we get on well at home and when we go out but sometimes I just wish he was dead and I could have my own life back again.

soontobe Fri 02-Oct-15 14:47:22

When did you last have a heart to heart with your husband?

tippex50 Fri 02-Oct-15 14:35:29

Sorry to go on but I feel like a used mattress i.e. our sex life was pretty vannila and when I think back a bit boring plus now it is non existent.

So no job , no money, no sex and on top of that I have put on 2 stone grrrrr no wonder I feel unhappy. Plus I have a cronic medical condition.

But seriously I need a strategy should I jump ship while I have the chance and before all assets are used up?

soontobe Fri 02-Oct-15 14:29:24

I am wondering like thatbags, if you are not feeling well.
And like lots of us, when we dont feel well, we dont think straight[this may not be the case as I dont know you].

You were both happy before.

I think you need to speak to your husband, but more importantly, make an appointment with your GP.

tippex50 Fri 02-Oct-15 14:16:27

Soontobe

Yes I thought we were both really happy but now I wonder. Maybe it was not meant to be. I am just wondering if I would be a better person on my own.

tippex50 Fri 02-Oct-15 14:13:34

I am only 50 and I have been to the docs and had counselling loads of times and on top of that I am not well physically but I well enough to work.

I guess if I find some work it will all get better and go back to normal but I feel scared that I might not get work. How long do bad times last before you crack ........ don't want to think of it

thatbags Fri 02-Oct-15 14:10:09

You might just be feeling 'used' because you are depressed.

soontobe Fri 02-Oct-15 14:09:43

It sounds like things were all right while you were earning?

tippex50 Fri 02-Oct-15 14:08:38

quite quiet. I always do that.

thatbags Fri 02-Oct-15 14:06:03

Keep looking for work, perhaps go and see your GP about dealing with the 'head issues'. Wing it for a bit and then decide whether you still "feel married" to him. May I ask how old you are?

tippex50 Fri 02-Oct-15 14:03:12

Thatbags

Yes I see what you say and yes I would up to a point but 2 years is long time.

Soontobe and everyone: - I should have said i'm not sure he still loves me. He has lost interest in me in every way since I stopped earning and I mean
everyway. Although he does not seem to mind giving me money but I think it's just to keep me quite. I feel that he has used me for sex and money to live a better life style than if he was single.

I am not sure where this leave me.

thatbags Fri 02-Oct-15 14:02:28

Marriage is for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, or something along those lines, isn't it?

soontobe Fri 02-Oct-15 14:00:54

I wonder if this may stem from what happened to you when in childhood. How did your parents deal with this issue?

soontobe Fri 02-Oct-15 13:59:33

I think I can only answer this from my perspective which may not be of much use to you.

In my relationship, my DH has contributed a lot more financially than I have.
But I have done a lot more in other ways[children, housework etc].
We operate as a team.

It seems that you have not been doing that, which is fine, I think all partnerships can work well so long as they work for both parties.

It seems to me[and I could be wrong], that you do not want to work as a team?

Can I ask what your plan was going to be if you were ill, long term?
Does your plan have fundamental flaws in it? Because you could never guarantee a guaranteed income flow.

thatbags Fri 02-Oct-15 13:55:04

jot not

thatbags Fri 02-Oct-15 13:54:38

So you have a husband who is supporting you through a difficult time (you said you haven't been able to find work. have therefore spent all your savings) that is jot your fault and you want to divorce him because that is doing your head in?

Would you (want to) support him if he were in the boat you're in and you were still earning?

tippex50 Fri 02-Oct-15 13:48:53

Thanks for the good feedback.

The joint bank account does not work because I know what money he has and he pays for everything and in either case I need a bank account for my future.

I just don't like the fact that he pays for everything i'm used to paying half since we met ( apart from the 1st few months of dating).
If I was on my own then I would have to pay for everthing even if it was from social security then I would feel better (I think).

He is not mean , he is giving me what he has left but it is a quarter of what I usually spend I cannot handle it. I cannot even afford to pay into my pension fund any more. It stinks.

Maybe I could find someone who earns a bit of bread lol!
I don't know what to do but I cannot live like this for much longer. He knows how I feel but I don't know how to move this on.

Nonnie Fri 02-Oct-15 10:57:09

Like soon I think there must be more to this.

Totally agree with Lucky I think that if you love and trust each other a joint bank account is the simplest solution. I would hate to have to negotiate who pays which bill or what proportion of the mortgage each should pay as it is unlikely in most cases that the salary would be the same.

When we married I was earning the most but overall it has definitely been DH who has been the highest earner but it has never been an issue. my contribution to the family has been far greater in other, non-financial ways.

Only one of you can handle the bigger picture and it was originally DH but he wasn't very good at it and I took over which worked as he had already moved each time we bought and sold our homes.

We discuss any bigger purchases one of us wants but apart from that do our own thing, usually on our joint credit card and it gets paid off each month. DH has never asked how much a pair of shoes cost or anything else and I have never asked him. It works for us.