He keeps ordering weird stuff like 50 pounds of bird seed and a tiny cowboy hat. I tried unplugging Alexa but he just yells the commands until she comes back on. My credit card bill is insane.
My husband 31M and I 30F just bought our first house. It's a huge step for us and we've been really excited to decorate it. We have pretty modern taste a lot of clean lines and neutral colors. Think minimalist. We love going to flea markets and finding unique pieces. We're also starting from scratch so we need a lot of furniture.
My husband's parents are the complete opposite. Their house is crammed full of dark wood heavy furniture and a lot of knick-knacks. Every surface is covered. They mean well but their style is just not for us. They offered us a bunch of their old furniture when we announced we were moving in. We politely declined. We said we really appreciated the offer but we wanted to pick out our own things.
Well that did not go over well. His mom called me two days ago absolutely fuming. She said we were ungrateful and disrespectful. She went on about how much money they saved us and how we were too good for their things. My husband tried to explain our taste but she cut him off. She said we were throwing away perfectly good furniture and being wasteful. Then she said we were insulting their generosity.
Now his dad is involved. He called yesterday morning saying we need to reconsider. He said it's important to respect our elders and accept their gifts. He also brought up some old family stories about how much his parents sacrificed for them. It felt manipulative. My husband is now feeling guilty. He doesn't want to upset his parents but he also knows we don't want their furniture.
I feel like this is a boundary we need to hold firm on. It's our house our style. But they're making such a huge deal out of it. It's causing a lot of tension. Are we being unreasonable? Should we just take some of it to keep the peace? I really don't want to fill our new home with things we hate just to make them happy.
I feel like I'm constantly trying to make a budget and then failing spectacularly. I start with good intentions track everything for a week or two and then just completely fall off the wagon. It's so frustrating.
I see all these people talking about their detailed spreadsheets and categories and I just wonder if they actually manage to stick to it long term. Is there some secret I'm missing or is it just me? How do you stay motivated and disciplined enough to follow a budget week after week month after month?