I think I'm a horrible person...

Re: I think I'm a horrible person...

I actually completely disagree with this. I've seen people lower their standards of living to accommodate poor finanical decisions. You don't bounce back from it, your kids don't bounce back from it because you never learn to save. All you do is cut down and down.

Pretending this is a temporary finanical issue is not wise, this is permanent. You downgrade if one of you loses their job and you guys have some hope of a better opportunity or you downgrade if you're going to actually save all of that money. But since your financial situation not in flux and neither is the extra money going to be saved so what is the point? This is going to be your financial situation for the rest of your life if no changes are going to be made.

Are there no bonds or stocks you can invest in, op?And please don't let your husband take any loans. The lack of savings is going to catch up to you guys at some point and when your bil's children are getting married don't let him take out loans or do anything stupid. You can wait for a home but your hypothetical kids can't wait to go to college debt free. You'll have to follow your biological clock at some point.

Re: I think I'm a horrible person...

yes...in theory this works well....
as soon as one partner's parents are in a jam and he/she doesn't have enough savings to help them while the other does, problems begin.

Re: I think I'm a horrible person...

Exactly!! What pisses me off though is that his parents are still spending extravagantly even though FIL has been forced to quit his job due to his illness and hubby is supporting them financially. His mom loves to shop. In all fairness, she's a lovely woman and has never been anything but kind to me. She's just really careless about money and sucks at saving. It doesn't help that FIL always indulges her.
Recently, hubby politely asked them to cut down on the extravagant spending a bit since he cannot afford to run two households if they continue to spend like they are. We ourselves have pretty much stopped going out, but we got them a car, hired them a driver, a cook, a maid and are covering all of their regular expenses and FIL's medical expenses so his (FIL's) savings/severance pay can be put away as rainy day money. FIL got all mad at hubby though and was like "how dare you ask your mother to curtail her spending when I have never done so in my entire life, etc." Which is sweet for MIL but not very practical. Ugh!

Regarding islamic financing, we have researched it and aren't really convinced on the fiqh of it. Not gonna get into that here though. My parents have offered to pitch in $50k when we do end up buying, but I turned them down because I was being proud. It looks like I'll have to accept it at this point though. I will make sure we pay them back but it just feels like I'm being so unfair to my parents and taking advantage of their generosity. It's not like they are loaded or anything. They are just really economical about everything, unlike hubby's family :(

Re: I think I'm a horrible person...

This is an example from my mum and dad's life. My grandmother wanted to live in Pakistan and not in Kuwait (where my parents were) or in USA (where my tayya abbu lived and lives). This is in the 90s. My dad even though being the younger one, was always expected to pay for everything. His elder brother never did anything. Not like my tayya abbu back in the days was poor or something, quite on the contrary; very well off and he's still extremely well off now. My dad even though wasn't as well off as his brother back in the days, but he still bought a place for my grandmother in Lahore and got all the amenities with it; driver, cook, a lady to look after my grandparents and clean the house etc. My grandmother was never satisfied. It seemed the more my dad did for them money wise - send money every month, send pocket money and expenses, pay for their travel to Kuwait etc - the more my grandparents wanted it. It wasn't even that my grandparents were poor. They had land, they had income from that land, they had income from restaurants etc. Still, they were so used to my dad doing everything, that it had become a habit and they didn't want to spend their own money. They wanted to safeguard their own money and leave it as inheritance for their children, just use my dad.

My grandmother used to be harsh with my mum every time we used to visit her place in Lahore to stay on our vacations from Kuwait. She didn't treat my mum nicely, this was despite the fact that my mum's husband took care of their every valid and invalid need and want. I remember we used to live in an okay flat in Kuwait and live an okay life, but my grandmother used to live lavishly, buy gold etc. Eventually my mum talked some sense into my dad and made him stop acting like a mummy's boy, made him step up and take his responsibilities as a husband and father seriously. He bought another house in Lahore - a much smaller one, just for us when we wanted to visit Lahore and he started giving much lesser amount from his salary to his parents. He forced his brother to send money too, from the US. He brought a lot of changes into the way things happened. His parents despised him for it, but eventually they knew that their son has changed, has a family to look after too and we cannot just bloody well scrounge off of him any longer.

Point is, you're going through a somewhat similar situation, you've given your money now and it is never going to come back. Say you did this in the way of Allah and they're his parents - get over it now. Don't be upset, Allah doesn't like that. Start educating your husband, drop hints that he's a family man now, he's got a wife and iA someday he's going to have children, he needs to change his attitude towards money. One thing is Siren, don't ever lose hope and faith in your husband and stick to his side always. You're his wife and his parents mean something to you too. His father has a tumour, that is a serious condition so I don't see no harm in sending money for his treatment; but yes the paying for the brother's wedding is a bit too much. Talk calmly with your husband, don't tell him outright that don't pay for your brother's wedding, suggest him ways to cut down and why he should cut down, maybe he could partially pay for it, pay for some of the events, or you guys could take some gifts from the US for the family - I know weddings gifts take up a big chunk of the wedding budget, so maybe you guys could contribute in that way.

There's many ways this can be resolved, you just need to keep a calm and level headed approach, don't get emotional and ruin things for yourself. Relationships are fragile, but extra fragile these days.

My sisters got married few months ago in Lahore and my tayya abbu contributed towards my sisters weddings. They're his nieces, we expected him to contribute and he knew that he must. Instead of paying for any of the events, my tayya abbu and tayyi ammi brought gifts from the US and he paid for my sisters honeymoon suites at the Marriott in Islamabad. Just think about it, you lot can do something similar when it comes to contributing towards the brother's wedding. Doesn't necessarily have to be a solid chunk of money. Even though your husband is in the US with you, his family is still in Pakistan and he feels connected to them too. By doing these kinds of things, it is his way of staying in touch and connected with them. I agree that sending over huge chunks of money is not really helping you guys to settle and secure your future, but you shouldn't discourage him that much. No man wants to be alone and distant from his family. You should be supportive, you just need to change his perception and viewpoint as to how he can contribute. Change his way of thinking.

Re: I think I'm a horrible person...

By the way OP, some people live in rented places all their lives, I don't know how old you are, but even if it takes you like one or two years more to get your own place, you should be thankful to Allah and think you're blessed that you got the opportunity to earn thousands of dollars and get your own place. People live on the streets, people live on 1 dollar a day even in some places in Pakistan. Always look at people beneath you and not above you. Even if you're living in a rented place right now, you should say thanks because you've a shelter above your head.

Re: I think I'm a horrible person...

Also Siren, if your husband's parents have rights over his money, similarly you have rights over your parents money too. This is why there's such a thing called inheritance etc. If the parents themselves are offering 50.000 dollars, you shouldn't refuse it, if it gets you over the line and you're able to buy your house. If it troubles you that much, tell you parents to write it out of the will or something, so you won't get much in inheritance after their deaths. See it as you taking your share, your right, just while they're still alive and there is nothing wrong with this. In Islam it is allowed and many people do that too. Distribute their wealth amongst their children whilst they're still alive, so there are no quarrels or fights afterwards regarding inheritance.