Real life MMD: Should SIL help with fuel?

keyholekate

I think you should discuss expenses that you may incur on your holiday with your with your sister-in-law. For example meals out as well as petrol. A few years ago My husband and I went away for two weeks with a couple.We all came to an agreement that our daily expenses would be split 4 ways. I elected to pay initially and at the end of the day I reckoned up what had been spent and submitted it to the other couple. It worked very well. Therefore in the case of your sister-in-law your should split everything threeways.

JuBarney

It surprises me that he still has a wife if he is this worried about sharing his car on holiday .... unless .... he is broke and his SIL is loaded.

tallgirld

Yes she should pay a third of the cost. It would also be a good idea to make her aware of this in advance so just drop it into the conversation like this..... "Hey we've book the Hummer which will cost £300 so that will be £100 each PLUS petrol"

If she reacts badly then she's taking the mick and you need to tell her that!!

Talent

It beats me how someone can get to this stage of a holiday without talking through the detail. Of course she should share the cost but it may be too late to bring it up now without some friction.

pineapple

I think a third share would be fair. Why half? Back to that syndrome where couples are one entity when it suits and two individuals at other times!

That said, I think it sounds mean minded to sit down with a calculator and ask for a third. Just discuss it informally and suggest a contribution. Unless of course the holiday was by your invitation or you know she is strapped for cash. In which case I wouldn't even mention it and just see what she offers.

Pellyman

Can't we cut out these 'family (so called) dilemmas'?

There are just too many 'ifs', 'buts' and 'maybe's' for non family members to give any sort of meaningful constructive comment.

They relate to specific matters that are simply not relevant to the vast majority of readers - unless it is to point out to everyone that basic 'rules' should be agreed before the parties get deeply involved, to the point that such trivialities get so out of proportion they seem likely to cause totally unnecessary threats to family unity.

janread1

If I was that sis in law I would have already offered to pay 1/3rd of all costs including car hire petrol & food. So the dilema wouldn't have arisen

barbadoskido

I think it would be fair to share the cost of car hire and fuel - per person - ie divide by 3. That is what we have always done, also with taxis shared.

diberry

She should pay a third - that's the fairest solution in my opinion. If she was travelling alone she'd have to pay travelling expenses so she should pay her share.

chog24

Yup, 3 people in the car means that the car hire and fuel costs should be split three ways. Of course, you'd still have to pay for the car hire and fuel if she wasn't in the car, but she'd have to pay for public transport to get from one place to another if you weren't there. Fair's fair: if you're gonna scratch her back, she's gotta be prepared to scratch yours.

But as someone else has already pointed out, she probably already knows you're gonna need her to contribute. Don't be scared to bring the subject up with her. When all's said and done, if she doesn't want to contribute, there's always Greyhound Busses