I Buy Top-Quality Turkey for Myself and Make Healthy Steamed Cutlets, While My Husband Gets Out-of-Date Pork Chops I’m Fifty-Seven, Married for Over Thirty Years—Always Doing the Laundry, Cooking, and Keeping the Family Comfortable. We Have Two Kids, Whom I Raised and Sent Through School Myself. I’ve Always Worked Multiple Jobs to Give Our Children the Best. Meanwhile, My Husband Never Really Worked Hard, and After Retiring, He’s Just Sat at Home, While I Still Work, Help with the Grandkids, and Do All the Housework. I Asked Him to Get Even a Part-Time Job—Even as a Security Guard—but He Says We’re Fine Without It. When I Finally Get Home and Cook, He Eats All the Good Food and Leaves Me Only Soup. On a Friend’s Advice, I Now Cook Separately: Cheap Food for Him, Quality Ingredients for Myself. I Hide My Treats and Keep the Good Sausages and Cheese In a Separate Fridge. Men Never Notice a Thing! He Gets Discount Pork and Cheap Pasta; I Get the Best Turkey and Premium Pasta. I Don’t Think I’m Doing Anything Wrong—If He Wants to Eat Well, He Should Get a Job. Divorce Would Be Foolish at Our Age—We’ve Built a Life Together and There’s No Point Splitting Things Now.

I buy good quality turkey meat for myself and make healthy steamed patties, while he ends up with the out-of-date pork.

Im fifty-seven years old. For more than thirty years, Ive been married, and throughout all that time, Ive been the one in charge of washing my husbands clothes, cooking his meals, and generally making sure our family is comfortable. Together, we have two children, both of whom I raised and put through school myself. Ive always felt like a hamster on a wheel, rushing about just to keep everything ticking over. Ive juggled multiple jobs at a time and never shied away from an extra shift, all so our kids could have what they needed and not look any different from the other children at their schools.

All these years, my husband never really put his back into work, and the moment he hit retirement age, he parked himself at home and stopped working altogether. Meanwhile, I still head out to my job every morning, help the children with the grandkids, and keep up with all the housework.

Ive lost count of the number of times Ive asked him to get some sort of job even a spot as a security guard but he always brushes me off, reckoning were managing just fine on my work alone. And when it comes to food, hes no fool! I barely have a moment to cook. Some evenings, Ill get in from work to find hes eaten all the good bits and left me only a bit of soup.

After one particularly frustrating chat with my friend Helen, she recommended cooking separately: let him eat the cheap stuff, and treat myself the way I ought to. So when I got home, I told my husband the doctor had put me on a strict diet, so hed best keep clear of my food.

Now, I keep my own meals stashed away, and whenever my husband heads out to the shed, I sneak a bit of chocolate. The best sausages and cheese I hide right at the back of the fridge, away from his prying eyes, and eat them quietly when I get a chance. Luckily, weve got two fridges I keep the everyday groceries in one, and all my jars and tucked-away treats in the other.

Everyone knows what men are like never see whats right under their noses. I buy the finest turkey for myself and make proper steamed cutlets, while with the nearly expired pork, I load on herbs and leave it for him doesnt seem to faze him in the least. I buy him the cheapest pasta, barely a quid a bag, and for myself, only the best durum wheat.

Honestly, I dont think Im doing anything wrong. If he wants to eat well, he can go out and earn it. At our age, divorcing would be daft most of our years are behind us, and we share a home, so whats the point in selling the house and splitting the proceeds?

Keeping something back for myself, Ive realised, isnt just about the food. Ive spent a lifetime giving everything to others, and sometimes you have to save a little bit just for you.