My MIL is visiting. We bought her tickets. It's a good way to ensure the guests don't overstay their welcome. DH and I are re-landscaping the back yard and we are reusing most of the materials that are already there. DH stepped up to the challenge and upgraded the irrigation for the cost of materials only. We have a budget, and there is an incentive to spend less, because any amount unspent will supplement family vacation fund. MIL, meanwhile, wants us to take her to the Grand Canyon - never mind that a layoff a year ago resulted in a sizable pay cut for me and our household now works with shrunken budget. MIL also complains about second or third cousins who, supported by a small military pension, disability checks, and a couple of low-wage gigs, bought a Hummer and a Caddy, have a mortgage, and seem to be perpetually short on cash.
But she is determined to motivate me to spend more, and to give me more work, as will become apparent shortly. Today, I took her to a local nursery to buy a future shade tree. In a 5-gallon pot, because I was going to dig the hole myself and 5-gallon pot is all my shovel and I can handle. 5-gallon pot doesn't make a very big shade tree. I looked at the 15-gallon size, and that pot size gave my shovel the shakes. So no, 5-gallon pot it is. MIL thought 15-gallon would actually give some shade right away. She did have a point, but then again, she was going to supervise while I dug through the hard pan layer...
To check out, we walked through a greenhouse full of winter color, cacti, herbs, and the like. I stopped at the herbs to survey the collection for the future reference; backyard renovation includes installation of an an herb/vegetable garden. And she started oohing and aahing about how cute the thyme was and how I had to buy it because we had extra pots. I said no.
When we got home, she proudly announced to my husband that she tried to get me to buy more stuff and that I was a difficult person to shop with. And I, once again, patiently explained how I am not good at impulse shopping and how impulse control improves the bottom line. She really doesn't seem to connect how our habits keep us afloat through promotions and layoffs whereas her and cousins' lack of control keeps them in the poor house. But then, she doesn't have to: she gets monthly checks and two all-expenses-paid trips to visit us every year.