My mother-in-law suggests gifting iPhone 16 for father-in-law’s birthday

Although my father-in-law is currently using an iPhone 13, which is still fairly new, he feels envious when he sees his friends with the latest devices and hinted to his wife to ask us for one.

In our household, I am the primary earner, with a monthly income of about VND30 million, while my husband earns less than VND20 million. Our combined income is just enough to cover living expenses, support our family of four, and occasionally fund trips, supplemented by stock trading gains.

However, my in-laws are unaware of this reality. They believe their son has a high income and assume we are financially well-off as they see us taking trips with our kids.

I do not consider myself stingy or neglectful toward my in-laws, but with my father-in-law’s demanding nature, lack of frugality, and tendency to follow trends, I find it hard to comply with such requests.

Additionally, my in-laws frequently watch online sales livestreams and make purchases almost every week, using my husband’s company as the delivery address so that he ends up paying for them. When my husband is short on funds, he often calls me to transfer money. Although the individual purchases may seem insignificant, the weekly expenses accumulate to a substantial amount.

Because of this, I am reluctant to buy such an expensive gift for my father-in-law, even though my husband is considering going along with their request. How can I refuse this without upsetting my in-laws?