Ask Me on Geezeo.com
Posted by Farnoosh on 9/22/08 • Categorized as Debt Management, Saving
I’ve recently partnered up with the innovative team at Geezeo.com to provide financial feedback to its community of users. Take a moment to sign up for my Ask the Expert group. Just follow this link!
Here’s a recent Q&A post…
From Beachbum:
Hi Farnoosh, this may seem like a dumb question – but it really has been bugging me (and costing me money).
I’ve been car-pooling with my brother-in-law for the past few weeks and while he’s great company he’s never offered to help pay for gas. Our commute is over an hour each way, so it adds up. How do I send him the picture and get him to pay his fair share? I want to be straight-up, but he’s family, after all. Am I wrong on this?
Farnoosh_Torabi says:
A: Family members who mooch are the toughest to discipline. Next time you pick up your bro-in-law head to the pump together. That’s a smart time to discuss how your tank bill is soaring, not to mention how the commute is killing your car. Physically seeing you fork over money and hearing you vent will hopefully trigger him to chip in. Yes – it’s a bit passive aggressive, but like you said, he’s family. If he still doesn’t get the picture, ask him for a favor – to relieve you every other week by taking his car. The key is to make him feel like a big help and to ask in the appropriate context – not at Thanksgiving dinner when you’re tipsy off adult beverages.
