Wanting to hold onto our little bit of money?

Oh, he can`t get at the money. We wouldn`t be driving him round, his wife does that, in their/her car.

I hope your nest egg is in a safe place . Might be a good idea to put some of it in an isa. Returns are hopeless at the moment but I would make the money less accessible to your son's vivid imagination. Or premium bonds and you never know you might win.

Jeanie99, well expressed and I am sure that many others will agree with every word that you have said.

Numberplease don't even consider blowing your hard earned money on something that you don't even want.
You really need to speak to your husband about your feelings. You are happy with the van you have and why spend money when you don't need too.
The money you have is for something else and I would tell your son that, he as a bloody cheek(sorry for the language) to expect his father to use this money and to drive him around.

I honestly find it totally unbelievable that a son could be so selfish.

As an adult we should look to ourselves for the things we want or need in life not go running to our parents when life doesn't provide the things we want. He and his wife could find another job to pay for the extras.

Grannygear, I`d forgotten about that, hope he`ll still be allowed to tow our present van, it`s about 15 or 16 feet long.
Forgot to mention, same son wanted us to sell our house and go in with them on a large bungalow a year or so back, he said we`d not need a mortgage, they`d take that on, we`d just need to sell our house and put that money in as a deposit. Needless to say, we poo-poohed that idea as well!

A great big NO!!!!

I don't know enough about caravans to advise on whether this is a good buy, but I notice your husband who will be doing the towing is 69. Have you thought that at 70 he will have get a new driving licence that will not only need renewing every 3 years but won't necessarily have the same list of vehicles that he can drive now.
My own husband came across this when he reached 70. His previous licence allowed hime to drive some category (I forget which) of fairly large vehicle and he was debating whether it was worth paying to keep this on his new licence - I don't think it involved a test but there would have been a payment and possibly a doctor's certificate of fitness to drive - which would also be charged for. He didn't bother as we are not likely to buy a large mobile home in the foreseeable future.

Looked up the average cost of a funeral £3,200. I suppose we all better get saving

Good for you number I think he's quite old enough to stand on his own two feet and what sort of example is he setting his boys if he's always relying on his parents?

Good for you number!

In answer to your question Anno, yes, he WAS thinking, almost certainly, about how to get what he wants when he wants it. That`s always been his way, to borrow for what he wants, rather than wait and save, then he`s up to his eyeballs in debt. I don`t think he`s been free of debt since he left school, and he`s 43 now!
Anyway, crisis over............hopefully!

number, well done

Glad you've sorted it out. I bet that's a weight off your mind.

Well done number sounded bad idea!

IS hard to say no have feeling I will struggle if our ds asks for help but will it worry at moment!

Well done, number...you know it makes sense. Enjoy your weekend.

Numberplease....glad its sorted but do not feel in any way guilty. We all have to learn that if we really want things in life its up to us to do something towards it. I.E. learn to drive, save some money etc etc. Your son is a grown up and perhaps he still has a few 'facts of life' to learn.
Good luck!

Good for you number. You've done the right thing. Those huge twin axle vans must be a nightmare to tow, quite apart from anything else.

Good for you, number and Mr Number. Was your son really thinking when he made this proposal?

Just say NO. Number you must not be brow beaten over this, your son hasnt got the money to buy this van. He cannot expect you to use your only savings to finance this silly venture. Stay strong.xxxxxxxxxx

Well done number for talking some sense into your DH (although I wonder whether deep down he knew this was a bad idea!)

I really can stop worrying now, I was picturing every penny we had metamorphosing into a caravan!

Ha ha. no we are not all in bed Sel
Well done number you will stop worrying now

That was a very definate NO vote, and reassuring that no GNrs were trying to be non-directive in their responses.

Well number how do you really feel about this..... etc.

I can see just how having others views on your point of view in these AIBU posts is helpful.
At times we just need others dispassionate view of a situation to confirm or counter what we have been thinking, a bit of support, or a reality check to our more crazy ideas.

Maybe "sounding out" a dilemma works better with the anonymity of GN than with a friend or relative.
T G F Gransnet.

number excellent. Well done. You'll sleep better tonight that's for sure. Thanks for the and [cake] - probably be lots over as most will be asleep now. Better not let them go to waste

Panic over! I persuaded, well, told, hubby that I wasn`t going to go for it, pointed out that our car, although quite substantial, may not be strong enough to tow this much larger caravan, also that we`d have to holiday in school holidays (more expensive) and did he really want to spend every holiday with 4 other people? Our son has had the opportunity to learn to drive in the past, just doesn`t want to bother, they`d be bringing their own car behind us, it`d just be us in the tow car. Anyway, he rang our son and told him we weren`t bothering. As they know that it was me who was reluctant earlier, my name is probably mud by now!
Thank you all for your replies and great advice, talk about great minds think alike!
For all of you x 31!