MIL is widowed since February. Decent financial situation (no debt, house paid off, car brand new and paid in full, retired with good pension plan, great cook and housekeeper, low spending habits except for her clothes and some occasional/trivial items.
For us, we live a damned happy Mustachian life for a while now, spend a lot of time together, we do lot of sports, outdoor activities, biking, chilling, reading, cooking, minimal TV habits. Everyone is fit and healthy, guys are good at school, DW doesn’t work anymore on Mondays. Low mortgage and no other debt, retirements accounts are maxed out and FI is scheduled for 2019. I cannot ask for more!
MIL lives far away from us, want to treat her daughter & the kids (7 & 11 years old boys). Her bank account never been so full (FIL was big spender, now insurances and pension plan changed the picture). Now she "feels" rich and is probably ashamed to have so much sitting still. Last week, she tells my wife she wants to bring everyone to WDW next year.
Dude, I would have preferred to get hit by a shovel in the side of my head. I did a quintuple facepalm in my head when I learned about this. Then, I finally took a deep breath and think, ok, I got at least 6 month to get out of this mess.
Wife is juuuuuust borderline with Mustachianism. Raised in a low middle-class income with high middle-class spending behaviors. She follow the plan but she's not a black belt, YKWIM ? So she say -"My mom is gonna pay for the kids, we just pay for ourselves, what's your fucking problem?" I mean, even if MIL would pay for everyone and gives us 10k$ on top of that for our discretionary expenses, I DONT WANT TO GO TO WDW. I DONT WANT MY KIDS TO GO TO THIS FUCKING TOURIST TRAP! Why? I don’t see any reason to go there. And what if this trip settles some of the best memories for the kids? Not a good one? Ok, let say because daddy will not be happy out there? And what if this "fake" fun may crystalize in their mind and rise (fuck) the expectation for a good time in their future self’s life?
I usually run my math MMM style. Trip may cost many thousands over the next decades in the pursuit of an inflated lifestyle. Congratulation, good job, thank you!
Maybe I am wrong. I keep telling myself I may be wrong and think « aim for the higher goal, don’t mess everything for being so selfish, you are on the good path anyway, stay calm and think about peoples around you, they are human with sentiments…they are your loved ones”
Advices?