Ask Amy: Spouse’s spending creates a debt trap

By Amy Dickinson,

Dear Amy: My wife and I have been married for a long time. We grew up in working-class families, were the first in our families to graduate from college and had respectable careers in different industries.

Now we’re more or less retired. I have a small online business that supplements our Social Security income and her pension. (My 401(k) disappeared in the last recession.)

I try to set aside money for special purchases and be prepared for unforeseen emergencies.

However, she buys all sorts of stuff online and puts it on various credit cards: clothes, food, books, household items, you name it.

We have piles of unopened packages and brand-new stuff, and it never seems to end. I think it is some sort of hoarding complex.

I have tried talking to her about the spending, but she is highly secretive about our finances and when I press her for details, she picks a fight about something I did or said years ago.

She accuses me of not trusting her (and I don’t, really) and being paranoid (I probably am).

If something happens to her, in the state where we live, I would be liable for the credit card debt that is in her name.

Given what I do know of our financial situation, beyond my own business’s financials, I am afraid I would be bankrupt if she passes away. She refuses to discuss counseling. What can I do? I can’t afford to divorce her, either.

— Lost in a Blizzard of Packages

Lost in a Blizzard of Packages: When your wife runs up debt on multiple cards and hides all of it from you, she is committing “financial infidelity.” This has exposed a huge rift in your marriage (you cannot have a healthy, functioning marriage if one partner is lying about something so important). Unfortunately, unlike with other kinds of fidelity, ultimately the consequence and burden of her behavior may be borne by you.

Shopping — and buying — can give some people a dopamine hit, similar to gambling or addictive behavior.

Let’s assume that she is hiding and deflecting because she feels guilty and ashamed.

Instead of confronting her in anger, you could try to gently pry open the vault by enlisting her as a partner in your long-range financial planning. If she insists that her purchases are affordable, ask her to show you the paperwork. Tell her that you want your marriage to get back on track by being transparent and honest with each other. (I assume you have made financial mistakes, also — you need to admit them.)

Regardless of how your wife responds, you should definitely see a counselor and a lawyer. You say that you can’t afford to divorce, but it is possible that you cannot afford to stay married.

Debtors Anonymous has a “friends and family” support group: check Debtanon.org. You will also learn a lot from debt-buster Dave Ramsay.

Dear Amy: How can I politely tell my husband that he needs to start wearing larger size clothes?

Over the past couple of years, he has put on enough weight that the clothes he’s had for a while don’t fit properly, and he shouldn’t be wearing them.

When I buy new clothes for him, he still wears his old ones because the new ones I bought are “too big” and “not the right size.”

He has the same size the entire time I’ve known him (24 years), and I don’t have an issue with his weight gain, but he seems to be in complete denial. I’m usually a fairly direct person, but I don’t know how to tactfully approach this subject.

— Wondering Wife

Wondering Wife: There is no need for tact here because there is also no need for you to tell your husband that his clothes are too tight.

He is a grown man. He has the right to be uncomfortable. He might be trying to use his tightfitting clothing as an incentive to take off the weight he has gained. If he asks for help, then give him the benefit of your point of view. Otherwise, let it go.

Dear Amy: “Too Much Stuff” wanted to discourage her friend from giving her so many gifts.

We made this rule in our family as my mother downsized and got older: Any gift must be something you can eat up, drink up or use up.” No more stuff!

— Less Clutter

Less Clutter: This rule is a great gift. Thank you!

2020 by Amy Dickinson distributed by Tribune Content Agency