Not work, but family. Pitagirl (SO) and I were talking while we went off to the grocery store. Her SIL is a wealth funny things to post here.
1) Pitagirl's Niece wants Air Jordans ($160/pair, she's 7?). SIL went off to get them.
2) SIL calls us "cheap" for hang drying clothes and general frugalness.
3) SIL sees an air mattress (twin) we had out when Pitagirl's friend was over and tells her kids that Pitagirl doesn't love them because they can't stay over yet (waiting on pullout couch to be delivered).
4) SIL and BIL both drive SUVs, have a giant house, etc. Attempting to be Upper Middle Class on a Lower Middle Class income. BIL will not turn the heat on at work (he's a mechanic) because it costs too much, but he's ok with spending $160 on a pair of shoes for his daughter.
5) With all this wastefulness, SIL always comes around with fundraising campaigns so the kids (niece and nephew (9)) can go on soccer trips and other things that could easily be saved for if they could save.
6) MIL pays for their insurance and she'll retire in a year (she's 64). They don't know what they are going to do to pay for insurance! I believe this is health insurance, but it may also be other kinds too. BIL is diabetic on top of all of the other things.
7) MIL also owns the garage where BIL works as a mechanic and she wants to sell it now that she's getting on up in age.
8) SIL attempts to get Pitagirl to buy things for Niece and Nephew that she can't afford but that they want, and gets all annoyed when Pitagirl says no. We're not paying $160 for a pair of shoes when the most expensive shoes I have EVER bought were a $99 pair of dress shoes!
So Pitagirl and I, from our outside vantage point, get a good laugh at their self-inflicted misery and remind ourselves why frugality is so important. We feel bad for what the kids will go through, so I give a little bit of financial information to them once in a while (i.e. gas cost $0.80 when I was your age -> ensuing explanation of inflation).