New Update... we're moving

Tweet

Earlier this year my MIL passed away, and shortly there after FIL offered to let us move in with him, mostly because he needs help affording his bills, needs help with household chores, and shouldn't really be left alone at his age (75ish). We went back and forth a lot on the decision to make this move. On one hand, we're currently living in a trailer park which we hate. Not just the lack of space and lack of yard for my kids.. but also the people around here are rude and inconsiderate and loud! Plus our trailer has a lot of problems, the drain isn't hooked up and leaks under the house.. there's a hole in the floor by the water heater that the maintenance men put there and never fixed.. my cupboards were not completely installed when we moved in and neither was the sink.. I could go on and on. All these problems were here when we moved in and should have been the park's responsiblity to fix, and we can't really afford to get them done. We're barely affording all our bills as it is.. which is another reason why this move would work out well for us, as FIL only wants us to pay his power bill and whatever extra bills we choose to have (internet, car insurance, cell phones.. etc). Then of course there are some downsides to the move as well. First and foremost having to share our space with someone else.. and it being HIS house not ours.. that may cause a lot of awkwardness at first, especially for me. The other, bigger issue is that FIL can be stubborn, controling, and a downright jerk sometimes.. especially when it comes to HIS stuff. I was hoping that another option would come along.. such as an affordable apartment we could move into on our own.. but that isn't happening, finding a place cheaper than we currently have is basically impossible unless we want to put up with bigger issues. However, some things have happened recently that have forced our decision. First off, 2 of my cats died and they forced us to get rid of our 3rd. The first cat to die was 9 years old, and had mostly been an outdoor cat, and acted like he was a lot older than he was. I figure that was probably natural causes.. he just died in his sleep one day. The second cat to die however was only 7, and he didn't just die. We found him outside not moving and couldn't get him to eat or drink. I made him an appointment with the vet, but the day of the appointment he started having seizures and died. Now that wasn't natural.. either he got into something around here, or somebody put something out on purpose, I'll never know which. Not too long after that they told me my 3rd cat was looking sick and I have to get rid of him. I told them he's not sick, he's always looked mangy. He lost all his fur during summer months due to fleas, and flea medication didn't help, and yes he had seen a vet about it. Well they gave me no option, so I had to send the cat to FIL's house. More recently they've been giving me a problem with our rent payments. Now we've lived here a year and a half, and they know our situation.. most people in the park have the same situation we do. At first they told us if we were late on rent just let them know and they're fine with it because they know we will pay and not go more than a week or so late. We unfortunately got in the habit of paying exactly a week late every month, and they were always fine with that and even expected it and never charged us late fees and always told us "Don't worry about it, we understand". Now all of a sudden they're charging the late fees. Then 2 days ago they came to my door telling me they can't tolerate it anymore.. just out of the blue. I said ok, I'll have it on Friday and next month we'll have it on the first. No problem. Understandable. The very next day was a letter on the door saying the exact same thing, half typed "Rent is expected on the first" the other half hand written "THIS IS NOT TOLERABLE". Ok.. I get it, rent is supposed to be paid on the first... and coming to my door to let me know that you won't accept it late anymore is fine.. but the note on top of that which came across rather rude was just overkill and actually made me angry. I mean, I'm not harassing them about all the stuff they never fixed, or all the other problems, so why are they harassing me after I already told them I understand. Then I read through my lease last night and found all sorts of rules everyone in the park is breaking and I'm wondering why they aren't being harassed and hounded. To top it all off, now they want us to paint our entire trailer and shed.. everyone has to paint their homes white so the whole park matches. I don't have the time or money for that! So, we're moving in with FIL by the end of the month. He's got a 4 bedroom house with a big yard, still in the same school district and actually a little closer to everything. My oldest will be allowed to ride his bike to his best friend's house, where as where we are now on a busy highway I never let the kids out and they don't even keep their bikes here.. they keep their bikes at FIL's house because they can't ride them here. It will be much better for the kids, and better for our finances. I don't know yet about FIL's attitude... he's been seeming better lately as far as his stubbornness and controlling go.. but that could change when we move in, I hope not. Either way.. there are definite positives.. and only possible negatives. Does this sound like a smart move? What would you do in my situation?