I’m taking a month of unpaid leave next month to look after my parents around the time my dad is going into hospital for a major op – the op will be ~ 12 hours, with 2-3 weeks as an inpatient and some fairly intense care afterwards ( he’ll not be able to walk/will need to be fed by tube, etc. ).
I’ve arranged the leave with work, my pension/healthcare will be paid, and splitting the leave over 2 calendar months will mean that my mortgage and bills will be covered, but that I’ll be eating into savings for day-to-day stuff and travelling back to the UK. My parents had offered to help out, but I had said that I could manage on my own as they are rather asset rich/income poor, whereas I have a reasonable salary, and can manage on missing out on 1/12th of my income over a year ( though the shiny things budget and my savings would suffer ).
Today in a fait accompli, they’ve put half a month’s salary into my account – they weren’t going to mention it to me until after gone back home at the weekend, then worried that I might check my account and complain about Natwest putting money into my account for no good reason 🙂
The dilema bit:
I can manage without the cash, at a pinch, and it was my choice to come back and look after them.
If I try to give them the cash back they’ll put up a fight and a half – I could foresee a battle of wills/ a game of paying in ping-pong.
I’m a bit stunned that they have done this, knowing that I am in a better position, long term, to make up the cash.
Do I accept the cash with good grace ? Give it back ? Use it for a holiday for myself later in the year ? Set it to one side and use it to buy things for them every so often ? Something else ?