Can I ask who does do the chores around the house and cooking? Are they split between you two? Or do the kids help out and he just wants them to do more? I kind of need more information to get the full scope of things.

Because if he is paying for all of the household expenses and doing the majority, or even his fair share of the household chores, than he has a right to say what he does. Especially if your kids are teenagers, they should be contributing to cleaning up the house no matter how busy they are. As adults they will need to know how to clean their own home while going to college or working, and not be a burden on someone else. There is absolutely nothing worse than having a roommate or partner who doesn't know how to clean up after themselves and contribute to household chores, because their parents didn't raise them to do so. Also if that is the case, than maybe you need to find another job and contribute to the bills that way or find another source of income.

But if you and the kids are already doing all, or the majority, of the household cleaning, than he is in the wrong. If you are doing it all yourself, and the kids and him are doing nothing, than that makes the above statement even worse because you are allowing your kids to eventually become one of the major things you yourself resent in your partner. But either way, if he isn't doing much, if anything, as far as household chores and cooking, I would consider those things as like a "job". And they can contribute towards the payment of the household expenses... Everything has value and that includes the meals you cook and the cleaning that is done. So if he is constantly going to complain about the cost of the bills and such, sit down together and put a value on all the things that you (and hopefully the kids) do around the house and that will be your "payment" for the household expenses. Make sure to track everything, every single day, and the dollar amount it equals to. Then in the future when he complains, you can say, "We paid our portion of those bills, so you can't complain."... PERIOD. Again, this only works if he is not contributing to the household upkeep at all. And I will also reiterate, I don't care how busy your kids are they need to do their fair share... They will thank you for it later, I promise.