(no subject)
I know this is a very, very general question, but I am looking for any tips that I can get.
Currently my partner and I have $1.00 in our checking account, and my credit card (it's a secured credit card, only a $500 limit) has a balance of about $400 due to paying the checking account's overdraft charges and bills. Our bills every month (rent, utilities, his car insurance) are between $900 and $1000, that's not including food or gas money.
This was working ok for us a couple months ago when my partner got a good job. I went back to school and we felt like I could cut down my hours to part time (50 to 60 hours a week to support the both of us was killing me). We even saved up enough to buy plane tickets to visit his family at the end of March. But last month we got a series of unexpected bills... my partner got THREE $200+ traffic tickets, we got a bill from our old apartment for $300 because apparently we had "gouged" the kitchen floor and all the walls had to be painted (these charges are absolutely ridiculous, but we can't do anything about it). And a few weeks ago, things started getting really slow at my partner's work, and now he won't be able to work until April.
I am really stressed out about all of this, especially because we're going to be on vacation for ten days. We have a place to stay, but I know we're not going to have money for much else, and as soon as we get back (April 2nd) we will once again be broke with bills due, and no income for the time we were gone.
The thing is, my partner will just not take this seriously. He tells me over and over again, everything's going to be fine, I'll take care of you. Obviously, we're going to survive, but I am sick of this happening. I feel so completely out of control when it comes to our money, because he deals with it, and he doesn't take it seriously. If he gets a paycheck, he usually cashes it and decides that we're in a position to eat out every night and buy toys, meanwhile, the bills pile up.
He criticizes me for being "so concerned about something as meaningless as money" and tells me that it's the least of his worries. Whenever I ask him to let me take control of the finances, he gets defensive. He tells me, this is just how things go, sometimes you have money, sometimes you don't. He also does not want me to pick up more hours at work. He has this idea in his head that he has to provide for me, but he just keeps letting me down. In the past couple weeks, on the days that he's home and I'm at school or work, he has bought a ton of fast food, decided to surprise me with $60 worth of groceries, and ordered games online. I have told him so many times, we can't spend unnecessary money right now, but he won't believe it.
He wants to get a credit card to build credit, but I am really not looking forward to that. I got mine last year and kept completely in control of it, but now I owe $400 that I don't have. I know we should be in this as a team. I love him, and I don't want to start splitting everything down the middle. I want to support each other, but I hate having this stress on me all the time.
So, I guess my questions are:
What can I do, right now, to save/get as much money as possible? And what can I do to help this situation with my partner and I? How can I take control of this, or at least convince him to be a little more responsible?
Thank you so much for all your help. I'm sorry this was so long.
Currently my partner and I have $1.00 in our checking account, and my credit card (it's a secured credit card, only a $500 limit) has a balance of about $400 due to paying the checking account's overdraft charges and bills. Our bills every month (rent, utilities, his car insurance) are between $900 and $1000, that's not including food or gas money.
This was working ok for us a couple months ago when my partner got a good job. I went back to school and we felt like I could cut down my hours to part time (50 to 60 hours a week to support the both of us was killing me). We even saved up enough to buy plane tickets to visit his family at the end of March. But last month we got a series of unexpected bills... my partner got THREE $200+ traffic tickets, we got a bill from our old apartment for $300 because apparently we had "gouged" the kitchen floor and all the walls had to be painted (these charges are absolutely ridiculous, but we can't do anything about it). And a few weeks ago, things started getting really slow at my partner's work, and now he won't be able to work until April.
I am really stressed out about all of this, especially because we're going to be on vacation for ten days. We have a place to stay, but I know we're not going to have money for much else, and as soon as we get back (April 2nd) we will once again be broke with bills due, and no income for the time we were gone.
The thing is, my partner will just not take this seriously. He tells me over and over again, everything's going to be fine, I'll take care of you. Obviously, we're going to survive, but I am sick of this happening. I feel so completely out of control when it comes to our money, because he deals with it, and he doesn't take it seriously. If he gets a paycheck, he usually cashes it and decides that we're in a position to eat out every night and buy toys, meanwhile, the bills pile up.
He criticizes me for being "so concerned about something as meaningless as money" and tells me that it's the least of his worries. Whenever I ask him to let me take control of the finances, he gets defensive. He tells me, this is just how things go, sometimes you have money, sometimes you don't. He also does not want me to pick up more hours at work. He has this idea in his head that he has to provide for me, but he just keeps letting me down. In the past couple weeks, on the days that he's home and I'm at school or work, he has bought a ton of fast food, decided to surprise me with $60 worth of groceries, and ordered games online. I have told him so many times, we can't spend unnecessary money right now, but he won't believe it.
He wants to get a credit card to build credit, but I am really not looking forward to that. I got mine last year and kept completely in control of it, but now I owe $400 that I don't have. I know we should be in this as a team. I love him, and I don't want to start splitting everything down the middle. I want to support each other, but I hate having this stress on me all the time.
So, I guess my questions are:
What can I do, right now, to save/get as much money as possible? And what can I do to help this situation with my partner and I? How can I take control of this, or at least convince him to be a little more responsible?
Thank you so much for all your help. I'm sorry this was so long.