Originally Posted by velma929

A heartbreaking thing I saw on Phil Donahue years ago: A woman stood up and said after her husband died, she waited and waited for the life insurance check. She finally called the insurance company, and was told her husband had cashed out the policy years before. He had done so to keep up a standard of living his paycheck didn't cover, and he was embarrassed to tell his wife and kids.

My husband and I kept separate monies. I didn't trust him not to spend mine as well as his. As it was, he took out money from his 401K to spend when his unemployment wasn't enough. He lied and said he needed it for medical expenses. He was spending about $600 a week. You wouldn't think it possible, but in addition to unemployment (about $200 a week) he withdrew $2500 every three months. He did pay his share of the bills, but we own the house outright, so no mortgage. It mostly went for beer (2-3 six-packs a day) cigarettes (two packs a day) and lottery tickets. The ATM withdrawal slips were about $200 every two days.