# No, you have to pay your own bill **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 6, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630 "2008-10-06T03:22:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/1 "2008-10-06T03:22:55Z")
My sister and I inherited a house, which has had tenants in it since before our mom died. For reasons I don’t want to get into, I handle the accounts. I collect the rent and divide it between myself, my sister, and the ‘house account’. The house account pays taxes on the income, property taxes, repairs and maintenance. I’ve made it clear that the house account is for the house. So my sister calls to tell me the property taxes are due. OK, send me the bill and I’ll pay it. ‘Um… I also want to send you my property taxes so that you can pay them out of the house account too.’ :smack: I tell her that the house account is for the house. ‘I don’t see why it can’t pay for my property taxes and _your_ property taxes too!’ :smack: :smack: I tell her why. Again. She asks how much is in the account and I tell her. She said, ‘What? I thought there was $X in it!’ I reminded her that we had to pay taxes on the rental income last year, and that she freaked out about it then. Remember? I ask her why we bother having the house account at all. Why not take all of the money out and then next April tell the IRS, ‘Oh. Sorry. We spent it. We can’t pay taxes.’ I heard BIL in the background wondering why we have the house if we can’t have all the money out of it. Then I asked her how much her property taxes are and she tells me. ‘So why don’t you pay it out of your account?’ ‘I don’t want to.’ I told her that I’d just deposited her share of the rent, so I know how much she has in it. She can pay her property taxes. She was very disappointed and got very quiet. She said she’d send me the rental house tax bill. If the housing market wasn’t crap now, I’d suggest we sell the house and she could piss her share away anyway she likes. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/2 "2008-10-06T04:21:12Z")
I have a spare clue by 4 you can borrow. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/3 "2008-10-06T05:13:38Z")
I feel your pain. Times 48. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/4 "2008-10-06T05:23:01Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I feel your pain. Times 48. Holy shit! You have 48 sisters? I thought I was bad off with six. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/5 "2008-10-06T05:24:40Z")
I’d like you to pay my tax bill too, if that’s not too much trouble. I’ll send you the bill. kthxbai ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/6 "2008-10-06T05:39:35Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Holy shit! You have 48 sisters? I thought I was bad off with six. Wow. 😃 I bet you dressed funny as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/7 "2008-10-06T05:48:31Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > 😃 > > I bet you dressed funny as a kid. No way, man. I was the oldest. I made them all sit on the couch while I sang random bits of “Jesus Christ Superstar”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/8 "2008-10-06T06:25:03Z")
If she ever divorces the BIL, she will thank you. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/9 "2008-10-06T06:25:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > For reasons I don’t want to get into, I handle the accounts. I think I figured out the reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/10 "2008-10-06T09:54:45Z")
I think we all did. ---
**Author:** ![Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weaver_of_Nightmares)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/11 "2008-10-06T12:00:08Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I’d like you to pay my tax bill too, if that’s not too much trouble. I’ll send you the bill. kthxbai Does the account also cover clothes? I need a new wintercoat. ---
**Author:** ![barrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@barrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barrum)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/12 "2008-10-06T12:45:41Z")
Any chance of buying out her half of the house? ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/13 "2008-10-06T13:31:54Z")
> [@barrum](#): > > Any chance of buying out her half of the house? That was my thought. If you can get a mortgage to cover her share, you can manage the house and make a profit when the market recovers. I am sure the aggravation alone would tempt you to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/14 "2008-10-06T13:40:32Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > No way, man. I was the oldest. > > I made them all sit on the couch while I sang random bits of “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Do any of them still speak to you? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/15 "2008-10-06T13:49:38Z")
I’d buy her out, but I already have a mortgage on my house and a car payment. Since we’re in a recession I don’t want to take on any more debt and be caught without a job. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/16 "2008-10-06T14:23:45Z")
Then let her buy you out and blow the money however she likes. Not your problem any more. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/17 "2008-10-06T14:30:35Z")
> [@Khampelf](#): > > Do any of them still speak to you? Would you? ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/18 "2008-10-06T15:05:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > For reasons I don’t want to get into, I handle the accounts. Dude, after the rest of that post, you don’t need to explain a _thing_. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/19 "2008-10-06T15:15:05Z")
> [@Khampelf](#): > > Do any of them still speak to you? Of course they do. They know they’d be lost. They’d be soooooooooo soooooooooory… when he’s goooooooooone! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630/20 "2008-10-06T16:02:37Z")
If you’re stuck in this with her (and it sounds like you are), can you sit down with her and the bills and receipts and explain everything to her so that she gets it? Her ongoing lack of understanding of what you’re doing (and resenting you for doing it) could end up being a very bad thing (especially since her husband seems as financially incompetent as she is). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-have-to-pay-your-own-bill/466630.md?page=2)