It was this question that led me to an online community to understand how others perceive such situations—I’d really appreciate your honest opinion.
About ten years ago, my husband’s sister wanted to buy a property in the UK but didn’t have enough funds. My husband was unsure about lending them the money, but I encouraged him to help and not to request his name be added to the property certificate. They had three children and were struggling financially. Growing up, my family had little money too, and we often relied on help from relatives.
Fast forward to a month ago, my husband—under his parents’ influence—decided to give his sister the rental income from one of our properties, which is about £1,400 a month. He had recently suffered a stroke and spent the past four months at his parents’ house while I had to return to China for work.
Yesterday, his sister asked if my husband wanted her to buy a bouquet of flowers for their mom for Mother’s Day this Sunday. When he said yes, she replied, “Is £25 okay?” I was taken aback. After all the financial help we’ve given her, couldn’t she just help buy flowers for her own mother without charging us? We’re not wealthy—both my husband and I work hard in corporate jobs, and our standard of living is actually lower than his sister and her husband. She works four days a week, and he does construction work. The only reason my husband had to stay with his parents was because her husband couldn’t finish renovating the property; the project was delayed from August to October and still hasn’t been completed.