Hello everyone,
My husband has just sent me a text letting me know that he opened an envelope sent by my parents and that there was a cheque in there for a large sum of money. There was no letter or card attached. I don't want to specify the amount but it would take us about 12 months to save up. I presume it was for our wedding anniversary which was a week ago but it could just be a coincidence.
The problem is that I feel really bad accepting this. They gave us about half this amount as a "housewarming" gift before we moved into our PPOR in September which we accepted but I made a point of noting that it was very generous, that we're fine financially and for them not spend any more on big gifts for us. My parents are pretty much retired but my dad does irregular work at times to keep active. They are pretty frugal and don't spend much on themselves at all. The only travel they've done is to visit relatives overseas twice.
I don't know how to decline this without them getting offended. I know my father will be especially offended if we don't accept it. I was thinking to accept the gift but then use most of it to get something for them but then I'm not sure if this is even ruder because I'm using their money for something it wasn't intended for. I know my mother has wanted to go to Hawaii for a few years and the money would easily pay for that with lots of change.
Also, we are planning to do a big trip to Europe at the end of the year. My parents are the OTT sensible with money types who think you shouldn't spend any money on luxuries like travel until you pay off your mortgage and retire etc. I know they would get annoyed if we accepted this and then travelled at the end of the year as they would view it as not spending their contribution sensibly etc. This is not something I want to defer as I have been planning it for a really long time.
So what are your thoughts? How do I approach this situation?
Thanks
My husband has just sent me a text letting me know that he opened an envelope sent by my parents and that there was a cheque in there for a large sum of money. There was no letter or card attached. I don't want to specify the amount but it would take us about 12 months to save up. I presume it was for our wedding anniversary which was a week ago but it could just be a coincidence.
The problem is that I feel really bad accepting this. They gave us about half this amount as a "housewarming" gift before we moved into our PPOR in September which we accepted but I made a point of noting that it was very generous, that we're fine financially and for them not spend any more on big gifts for us. My parents are pretty much retired but my dad does irregular work at times to keep active. They are pretty frugal and don't spend much on themselves at all. The only travel they've done is to visit relatives overseas twice.
I don't know how to decline this without them getting offended. I know my father will be especially offended if we don't accept it. I was thinking to accept the gift but then use most of it to get something for them but then I'm not sure if this is even ruder because I'm using their money for something it wasn't intended for. I know my mother has wanted to go to Hawaii for a few years and the money would easily pay for that with lots of change.
Also, we are planning to do a big trip to Europe at the end of the year. My parents are the OTT sensible with money types who think you shouldn't spend any money on luxuries like travel until you pay off your mortgage and retire etc. I know they would get annoyed if we accepted this and then travelled at the end of the year as they would view it as not spending their contribution sensibly etc. This is not something I want to defer as I have been planning it for a really long time.
So what are your thoughts? How do I approach this situation?
Thanks