Every summer, we vacation with Kyle's family--his mom (and his dad, before), his cousin, her husband, and her three kids. We usually go to the Alabama Gulf Coast, but this past summer, we weren't sure what it would be like since Hurricane Ivan made landfall there last September. So, we decided to go to Panama City Beach, Florida, where the condo rates are a little higher. The difference in the condo in Florida as compared to Alabama was $300. That amount was also what was required to reserve the condo. Kyle's mom always pays for the condo for us, and we all just pay for our meals and our food. Since the condo was more last summer, I called Kyle's cousin and told her that I thought our two families should pay the deposit/difference of $300. She agreed. I sent the check in (took the money out of our savings account), and she said she would pay me back their half. The big THING ever since I have been with DH is that his cousin and her family struggle so much financially and don't have any money, etc. And, ever since DH and I have been together the other THING is that he is seen as the really well-off, financially stable one. Well, we used to be. But in the past year, he has taken $25,000 in pay cuts, and I don't work to speak of. ($50 a week in tutoring money is nothing to brag about.) So, we went to the beach last Labor Day. I paid the deposit last May. DH's cousin has not paid me yet. For a while, every time she saw me, she would tell me that she knew she owed us the money, but that she couldn't pay us. She last said this at Thanksgiving. At Christmas, they showed up with a new digital camera. A Sony that takes both still digital pictures and video. 
I really felt like it was DH's place to remind her about the money, but he hasn't. I was going to let it go. In February, they went on another beach vacation for several days. Then, on the way to Disney World, I found out that they had bought TWO portable DVD players to go in their car. We can't afford that kind of stuff now. My old, film-taking camera broke when we were at the beach in September, and we still have not replaced it. We really struggle these days. We have to budget, and we don't make big purchases. So, I decided I should say something. I had to email her an address earlier, so I added this:Also, I know you haven't intentionally forgotten about this, but I thought I would remind you about the deposit from last year's condo in Panama City. Remember, Kyle and I went ahead and paid the $300 and we were going to split it with you? Anyway, it would be a HUGE help to us to have that, or even part of it, however you can pay us, right now. I hope that makes sense, and I hope I have not offended you.
I think I need to clarify here that over the past eleven months I have told her that if she needed to, she could pay us $20 a month. Now, don't tell me she could not have done that. This is the reply I got from her:
I will need to wait until DH gets paid. We are overextended due to the trip. I wish you would have said something in Orlando. I would have paid you instead of wasting it at the Rainforest.
I emailed her back and told her that I didn't think it was appropriate to bring it up on vacation, and that I felt it was important for them to do the things they wanted to do on that trip and not worry about paying us while we were there at Disney.
It just makes me really mad. It's like she thinks I am wrong for asking her to pay us money she has owed us for almost a year. I am sure her attitude is that we have plenty of money and have not really missed that $150, but that is far from true. We'll see what happens now.
I hope they pay you back 
