Dear Queenie,
I’m a stay-at-home mother and my husband travels a lot. My problem is his mother. When he is away she takes over paying the bills and gives me money for household expenses. I think I should be the one in charge of things when he is away, not his mother.
Queenie, what do you think?—Angry wife
Dear Angry wife,
I think it depends on where the money comes from. Is your mother-in-law taking over your husband’s paycheques or does the money come out of her pocket?
If it is the latter, she has every right to be in charge.
However, if it is the former, your husband should make arrangements to keep his paycheques and the bills out of her hands – perhaps by having the cheques deposited directly into a bank account that you can access but she cannot, and by having the bills sent to a Post Office box for which she does not have a key or by arranging for you to pay them online from said bank account. But be prepared for Mommy to have a less-than-positive reaction to any new arrangement.
