Lucky vs. Unlucky

If you’ve came here for the typical light-hearted post…walk away now. J/K.

I had actually though of using this post as a harsh rant and whine time but then remembered myself. I’m not the type to whine and whine about things but instead find the bright side of the matter and work with it. Although sometimes that bright side is hard to find..its always worth it.

Here’s the thing. My hubby is retired military, discharged due to an injury with his knees. When he got out we moved in with his parents, until we got on our feet. Trouble is we have been unable to find our footing due to one issue or another.

At first it was my major health issues…being in the hospital for months at a time isn’t easy on any marriage..least of all on the wallet. Me without insurance, the bills piled up.

All the while my husband is trying his hardest to find a job. Sad to say its not that easy. Yes, most places will hire retired military before others but they want those guys to be in perfect health. My husband has many limitations because of his bad knees and the VA wont do surgery until he is 36 (need I mention he is only 27).

Ok so now you know the quick backstory here is the issue at hand.

Almost every family has one..you know the well off cousin, brother, aunt…in our case father-in-law (for hubby ..dad). During the past few years, the hubby and I, have had many money issues but never once asked for help from his dad. This isn’t the type of people the husband and I are.

So by now your wondering when I’m going to get to the point right?? Well here is the point. This whole time I thought the father-in-law was basically as strapped as we are. NO!! While he was away at work, he left his debit card for us to get food for the house. On the statement it showed he isn’t as “broke” as he claims.

All this time I had been thinking he was living paycheck to paycheck. He doesn’t pay for his wife’s bills (i.e. her truck, the phone bill, cable, or her other stuff). Basically the way it works, is her bills are hers and his are his. Problem, he makes around 100grand a year, she–around 20grand. Huge difference.

Having seen his bank statement I now get annoyed when he uses his lines of “being broke”. I could only wish to be that broke lol. BTW we are talking more than 15+grand in the bank.

We’ve rented a storage unit for our belongings until we can get on our feet and get our own house again. (I promise it fits this topic) We rented the larger one so the in-laws could use some of the space for their things as well. We didn’t except them to help with the payment but when his dad had the nerve to complain that we were taking all of the room…good gravy. Then go on to say that we should find a bigger one to rent so there is more room. I’m thinking if he paid half, he would have room to complain but since he doesn’t..well I’ll be nice lol.

The father-in-law and mother-in-law did their taxes just the other day and he owes 4,000something, not sure on the exact amount. His part of it is 2,100 and his wife owes the rest. Last night I mentioned that her birthday was coming up soon and his response was…”It’s hard to think of birthday gifts when I don’t know how she is going to pay HER part of the taxes“.

Ackk!! you’ve got to be kidding me. Then he goes on to say that he doesn’t know how he is going to pay next months house payment. I’m thinking what, he flew to Vegas and went on a major gambling trip and lost?? NO! I’ve seen his statement, I know the money is there..I know how much is monthly paycheck is..I know how much his monthly bills are (because he’s ranted about them enough I know).

Soo now that you’ve totally thought I’m ranting here I’m going to prove that I’m not. As annoyed as this man makes me about his “tight wallet”ness, I’ve found a bright side. Bright side is that I will never been one of those people that with-holds my money to the point of being a tight a**. Instead I will go on being myself, giving what I can to help make others happy.

In case you don’t know me very well here is a quick tid-bit. I love being in the spotlight (the whole leo thing). But I also share myself..I would rather give a gift than get one. Which is actually what the hubby and I did at x-mas time. I didn’t get a gift for x-mas..but my kids, in-laws, parents did. The hubby and I used our holiday money for eachother’s gift to buy can food bags for the local homeless shelter.

Ok the moral of the story, it is better to give of yourself than do nothing but think of yourself. I don’t know about you but I would rather people see me as a good friend, who would give the shirt off my back instead of someone who claims to be broke when they aren’t.

Anyhow, do you have people like this in your life and wonder how they got this way?