Giving Money to In- Laws

I am really bad in dealing with money. I can’t keep track of my earnings and spendings. If someone takes 500 bill from my purse, I won’t be able to tell. I always keep enough cash in my purse to tackle an emergency. I am not the one to take risks in life. And fifteen years before, I was this carefree girl who couldn’t worry for future or if the sky was falling.
Any ways lets be on the track. I want to examine some tough issues today. Well, where money and in-laws come, it becomes a tough issue, right?
Before you rush to any conclusion, let me tell you that I am not talking about my husband lavishing his savings on his family. I am talking about a daughter-in law giving money to her in-laws.
My mother gave all her salary every month to my grand father. She then had to ask for money for conveyance. No pocket money or extra something was given. And she was the one who earned that money! She had to deny herself little pleasures like gardening. She is fond of Flowering trees, but never got a chance to start her own garden till my grandparents lived.
That was thirty years ago.
Things have changed now. A working daughter-in law keeps her salary to herself and may contribute in the household expenses the way she wants. She controls her money. This is the scenario in most of the families I know, where the daughter-in law is working.
I on the other hand, give half of my salary to my-in laws. Its not mandatory. They have never asked me to give them money. But then its an unwritten rule, not to be spelt in families like us.
The funny thing is that neither my mother-in law nor father-in law give or send money to his ( father-in law’s) parents.The grand parents live in village. My in-laws occasionally send something that they don’t want at their home, or take fruits while visiting them. But to be fair, my father in-law do care about them. He had taken good care of him when he was sick for a long time.
There have been two instances when my in-laws needed money, but they didn’t have that amount and my husband couldn’t transfer money because GBP’s value had gone down drastically. First time, I gave my father-in law more than the amount they needed ( That’s when I had already given the usual share of my salary). The second time when my mother-in law and father-in law started talking about not having money in their bank accounts and bill needed to be paid, I kept mum. I didn’t offer them money this time.
Then I felt guilty for a long time. Should I feel guilty or should I be proud of my self that I take such good care of the financial needs of my in-laws? I don’t know. All I want is that I be allowed to live in peace.

Tags: daughter-in law, In laws, money to in-laws