Husband Refuses To Pay For His Wife's Housekeeper After She Is Laid Off
He tried to argue that their expenses shouldn't be wasted on the luxury of having a housekeeper.
Krakenimages.com / Shutterstock A husband was accused of being unreasonable because he refused to pay for a cleaning service after he and his wife's income became consolidated into one.
Posting to Reddit, he revealed that he and his wife's finances took a major dip, and certain things they were able to afford in the past, were a stretch now.
He refuses to pay for a housekeeper after his wife was laid off.
In his Reddit post, he explained that his wife grew up with a housekeeper and when they first discussed living together, one of the things that came up was the division of chores. He figured that cleaning their space themselves would save money and it wouldn't be too hard to do if they divided up the chores equally between them, but his wife argued for just hiring a housekeeper instead.
"Ultimately, I agreed to the housekeeping service after both our parents told me it'd be easier to agree to make her happy. My only thing was that it was a service she was responsible for paying for," he wrote. "She started out having them come every other week. Then once a week to every other day to keep the house as clean as she liked it and do things like her laundry and emptying the trash in her hobby room."
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However, around the beginning of the year, his wife's company ended up downsizing and laying off some of their employees, which included his wife's job position. Since then, she's had a hard time finding employment somewhere else and for now, has been working part-time in retail.
The two of them weren't making too much money before she was laid off but managed to live comfortably because they lived below their means.
"Since her current job doesn't pay much I said that I would cover all of our joint expenses, ie, mortgage, property tax, utilities, and our phones so she doesn't have to deplete her savings and our savings won't suffer as much either."
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His wife continued to pay for the cleaning service for the next month after she was laid off but recently asked her husband if he had set up direct pay with the cleaning service company or would be transferring her money so she could pay the housekeeper. It costs around $190 a week for the cleaning service and he argued that he wasn't responsible for paying them since it was something that she'd insisted on.
He pointed out that if she couldn't afford to pay for the housekeeper anymore without dipping into her savings then the two of them didn't need the service in the first place. On top of that, he refused to pay for something like that when the two of them were able-bodied enough to clean their house themselves and do the chores.
His wife tried to argue that she doesn't find cleaning enjoyable.
"She says I know how much she hates cleaning and that it stresses her out, and since the housekeeper cleaned up areas like the kitchen and living room and made the bed sometimes, I was benefitting from it so it counts as a joint expense."
He told her he's happy to clean up after himself and has cleaned rooms in their house on his own in the past, without the help of a housekeeper. However, his wife accused him of being in the wrong for not paying for the service.
People in the comments section agreed that he wasn't being unreasonable for cutting back on expenses. Since losing her job, the two have had to think harder about what they can afford. Ultimately, cleaning their house shouldn't add to their financial strain, especially since it's a chore they can tackle jointly.
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If his wife isn't comfortable with cleaning because of how she grew up, the two can come to an agreement where she can start tackling small, manageable tasks one at a time so it doesn't seem as daunting. They can also set aside specific times during the week when they clean together so it doesn't seem as if one person is cleaning while the other isn't.
During tough financial times, sacrifices must be made so that money isn't wasted and savings depleted. By approaching household chores as a team, he can, hopefully, encourage his wife to leave behind the idea that the two of them need a housekeeper instead of it being a luxury that they can live without.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.