His Wife Was Never Told Him That She’s $15,000 In Credit Card Debt
This 35-year-old man has a wife the same age as him, and they got married a year ago. While he was aware his wife had a little debt prior to marrying her, she made it seem like it was not that bad.
Unfortunately, he just learned that it is pretty terrible, after all, as his wife is $15,000 in credit card debt.
His wife was embarrassed to admit this to him, and she also informed him that she purchased her wedding dress on her credit card, which he never knew before either.
He did question his wife about how she plans on getting herself out of debt, but she hasn’t thought that far ahead.
She is currently paying to put herself through graduate school, and she said she will start paying back her debt next year.
“Part of the reason she was embarrassed to tell me is because she knows how good I am about being frugal and conservative with my purchasing/lifestyle,” he explained.
“I’ve certainly told her that taking on significant personal debt is usually a bad idea, but I’ve always told her that I would help her financially (which I have many times but certainly haven’t given her $15k worth of help as I didn’t know it was needed).”
“I’m not as bothered by the fact that she took on so much debt; it’s more that she took it on over things she didn’t need but just wanted, and she didn’t ask me (her husband) for help first. I’m able to pay it off with money I’ve saved, but it would be 3/4 of my emergency fund.”
So even though he can jump in and save the day, he’s hesitating, as he’s not convinced his wife won’t resort to racking up more credit card debt.
djile – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
His wife really caught him off guard when she treated him like her debt shouldn’t have an impact on him, as it does.
If they do encounter any big, unexpected expenses, it’s going to be on him to come up with that money instead of the two of them.
His wife simply didn’t get that, though, and she’s treating her debt like it’s not that much of a problem.
What’s even more worrisome to him is that his wife works as an accountant and has to handle money all the time.
“I know exactly how to remedy the situation (cut back on spending and pay down the highest interest debt first until it’s gone and potentially consolidate the debt to a lower interest rate), but I don’t think she has the self-control to be able to do that,” he said.
“We’ve kept our finances almost the same since before we were married (other than filing jointly on our taxes). We have a joint account that we both put money into, and we keep a running tab of expenses we feel should be shared between the 2 of us and settle up monthly.”
“It’s entirely possible we could make it to her graduation without any issues, and then all that money could go to paying off her debt, but that’s a pretty big gamble that could have been so easily avoided. Her car has a ton of miles and will die any day, I have no idea what she thinks will happen then.”
What advice do you have for him?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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