Family

We have a new roomate!

My wife and I have a new roommate! A few weeks ago my brother-in-law flew in from out west to spend the 4th of July holiday with us. He has been a little down lately on his career and life goals. He is single with no children and has jumped from job to job and in and out of several different colleges. He is a very hard worker, but too often let’s his emotions out which negatively impacts him. He also, unfortunately, tends to focus too much on the short term and not at all on the long term. This mindset and the lack of a long range plan has put him in this situation.

On his visit to our home, he finally realized what my wife and I had. A nice home, with two great boys, and a good wholesome life. We could tell that he was jealous and wanted that for himself. He saw that staying focused and working hard could give him these things in life. Before he got to our home, my wife and I discussed extending an offer to come and live with us for a while so he could land on his feet and we could help him with some of life’s lessons that he hasn’t picked up yet on his own. Well, about a day after he returned home from our house, he called up and accepted our offer. I was very happy he accepted our offer, while my wife (his sister) was worried that it would hurt us in the end.

Prior to his arrival earlier this week, my wife and I sat down and wrote down our plan on how we wanted to help him.

• Job - Obviously very important. He needs to find a job, or better yet a career. He has had many jobs, but needs a career. We are working on a plan to help him think differently about jobs/careers which hopefully will change his mindset.
• Rent - We are not charging any rent until he finds a career. However, once he finds something, we will begin charging him a few hundred dollars per month in rent. I want to stress that this is not to pad our income, but help to teach him about budgeting. We plan on using this rent to pay the difference on the extra money going out of our budget on utilities and food. The money left over from that we plan on putting into an account that will earn some interest. Once he lands on his feet and decides he wants to move out, we will give him back this money to use for a down payment on a home for himself. We are not planning on telling him about this.
• Budget - To me, one of the most important life’s lessons that I can provide him with. I take great pride in myself for being able to keep a very good budget for my family. I am the sole income provider for our family and I think we do an excellent job in living the frugal way. I only hope that I can instill some of these values in my brother-in-law!

What do you think? Are we crazy for taking on this task? Have you ever been in a similar type of situation?

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