COLUMNIST and trained counsellor Fiona Caine answers another set of reader dilemmas.

SO STRESSED ABOUT MONEY

I have been married for six years and have two children. My husband has a full-time job and works most evenings to bring in some extra money. The problem is, things have got really tight over the past year or so. We never have enough money and are massively in debt.

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We can’t seem to get ahead of it, especially with the recent hike in energy bills. Food has become so expensive too and I even had to use a food bank for the first time last month. We have cut back where we can, but we are basically broke. I am sick with worry about our debts, and I think it’s getting to my husband too.

He thinks I don’t want to work and am just being lazy, but that is just not true. I have no experience and little in the way of qualifications. Jobs are out there but they are all badly paid. By the time I pay for child-minding and travel, and the tax man takes his wedge, we’d be out of pocket. I have tried to point this out to him several times, but he just gets angry.

FIONA SAYS: DEBT ADVICE IS AVAILABLE

If meeting your debt payments is leaving you short of food, you need to tackle the issue now. Debts have a nasty habit of compounding over time, so the sooner you deal with it, the better - and that means working together.

When your husband is in a calmer mood, explain that you are not lazy and that looking after a household with two children is hard work!

Then say you know he’s worried about income (you are too) but it’s the debt that needs tackling first. Hopefully he will see that the decision about whether you work or not can’t really be addressed until you’ve got some control over your debts.

I suggest you contact StepChange (stepchange.org), a registered charity which has an online debt advice process.

MY FORGETFUL HUSBAND BLAMES ME FOR EVERYTHING

If anything goes wrong in our house, it’s my fault - at least that’s what my husband would have me believe. He’s 74 and blames me for everything.

Bournemouth Echo:

Last week he went out to get a newspaper and when he got back, he left the car running and forgot about it. It was over an hour before I noticed and when I queried it with him, he said it was my fault for giving him a cup of tea.

On another occasion, he’d taken a phone call while cooking some bacon. It took the fire alarm going off to make him realise there was a problem. Once again, it was my fault for not noticing sooner.

These are not an isolated incidents and they seem to happening more and more often. However, if I point them out, he gets angry. I am worried about him but what can I do?

FIONA SAYS: SEE THE GP

These might be symptoms of dementia, or they may just be forgetfulness - but either way, I think you are right to be worried. Both incidents were dangerous and could have had far more serious consequences.

Encourage him to see his GP.

Email help@askfiona.net for advice.