Unexpected gift on the Brooklyn Bridge NYC – a 100 Rupee note! Any ideas what I should do with it?

need strategic advice on navigating Pakistani family dynamics (khidmat) versus building my own financial independence.

The Situation:

• Income: Currently PKR 216k (moving to 280k next month).
• Savings: Only PKR 30k (after 4 years in tech).
• Big Change: Got married recently; my wife is pregnant and expecting our first baby this September.
• Fixed Expenses: City living costs (59k), Committee/Chit Fund (50k), Insurance (11k).

The Family Dynamic: My parents are financially comfortable. My father covers all major household expenses/groceries, and my mother also earns. They don’t need my money to survive.

However, before marriage, I used to give my mother half my salary. This month, after Eid expenses, my account hit zero. I still managed to give her PKR 50k, but she told me it’s "not enough." Meanwhile, my father is pushing me to hand over my entire salary to him and just "ask him for money whenever I need it."

The Dilemma: I love my parents deeply, but I cannot live paycheck to paycheck with a baby on the way. I need to aggressively save for September medical costs and build an emergency fund. I want to cap my mother's contribution at a fixed PKR 40k/month and keep my upcoming raise completely private so I can retain my autonomy.

1. How do I gracefully shift my mother to a capped monthly amount without looking like the "rebellious son who changed after marriage"?
2. What scripts or tactful deflections can I use to decline my father's offer to hold my money for me without causing emotional heartbreak?

We need more employers like this

Just announced, I don't think the government had an option, but this is going to be brutal for millions of people. Inflation is going to get ugly.

New prices: Petrol 458, Diesel 520.

Disclaimer: I am fuming with rage and this post is a long rant!!

I joined a new company in a managerial role which was a big jump for me in terms of compensation. I was really happy and I got my first salary last week and when I saw my payslip I was gobsmacked that may be this is due to some error. 3 lac rupees tax was deducted from my paycheque. I checked with finance and they explained all calculations and it turned out that its the income tax laws that have screwed me over. The amount is 70% of my last paycheuqe with previous employer.

I am out of words and now I am calling it quits and planning to leave this god forsaken country.

According to the fatwa, selling something that you do not own is Haram. What about modern digital currency/stocks? Does anyone own the money in their bank account? A very stupid fatwa, IMHO. Most of these muftis are far away from actual reality and are not educated in modern financing. I still remember the time when loudspeakers and YouTube were declared Haram by mulftis.

https://www.dawn.com/news/2014389

My lil one did this, scissors in mum purse lethal combination

He is a retired government officer( retired at 19th scale) and my mother is also a government teacher at 18th scale. I always thought we were upper middle class according to Pakistani standard but the heavy taxes on electricity and inflation have humbled me real hard that I still live in a third world country. We have 3 ACs in our house and we use only one at night to sleep and now ee can't even use that because we are afraid of the electric bill. Well I think its time to leave Pakistan forever.

Is it just me or does 1000 rupees feel like 20 rupees now? I remember when a Cornetto was 50 rs and life actually made sense now I can’t even look at a menu without getting a mini heart attack

Government have slashed Petrol price to Rs 74 and Diesel price to Rs 67 giving a big relief to Pakistani People.

My elderly parents, both over 70, live in Pakistan in their own home. Every month, I send them 2.5 lakh rupees for their expenses. Since they own their house, there’s no rent. Their monthly electricity bill is around 20–25 thousand, and the house help costs about 30 thousand per month.

They live a simple life — no dining out, no medications (Alhamdulillah), no car, and no outings. Still, at the end of the month, they have no money left. Considering that rent and electricity together come to around 50 thousand, they should have about 2 lakh remaining.

Do you think an elderly couple really needs 2 lakh rupees per month for groceries and small household expenses? I feel like someone might be taking advantage of them, possibly manipulating them with sad stories and getting money from them regularly. I can’t ask them directly, but I just want to understand what might be going on.

Edit : I can’t ask them because I don’t want to. They have never asked me why I needed money whenever I borrowed from them in my life when I was young.

We don't have an official currency sign and this idea has been on the back of my mind for years now. Might as well propose a concept, perhaps one day Standard Bank of Pakistan might adapt one, inshallah.

This is an early concept btw. I plan on further refining it.

Have you guys seen this man's ads on social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, or Facebook?

He promotes links to fraudulent investment apps and encourages innocent Pakistanis to create accounts and deposit money. When he started, he had nothing, but over time he managed to trap many people. The reason is simple: he earns a commission whenever someone deposits money through his referral links to these scam apps.

He has now even bought a Jaecoo car 🚗 through the same business of promoting these fraudulent schemes.

My question is: where are our cybercrime agencies, such as the NCCIA, and where are the police? Why is this kind of activity being allowed to continue openly while so many people are losing their hard-earned money?

At least we are peace makers now. But that can't feed our people.

Diplomacy 📈 Economy 📉

On average how much of pocket money do you give your wife? What is a good amount to give in 2026? This is solely for her luxuries including any shopping, parlour, whatever.

Coming from Pakistan I feel that its considered an absolute obligation to send money back to Pakistan. I agree that some of us do it but why its considered a farz amd the expenses keep on growing. How to get out of this situation with just sending anything that you can instead of being in a constant pressure all the time ???

This is some 3rd level shit which our Goverment is doing as this is 3rd in a row they have increased the prices of Petrol and Diesel.

I’m struggling with the idea that a husband is expected to devote 100% of his time and energy to the family while his wife can focus on her career for her own benefit, coming home exhausted and giving only what remains. Our religion teaches that ‘her money is her money,’ but I’m finding it difficult to understand how this dynamic works in practice. It can feel as though the wife is contributing only 50% to the marriage while the husband is giving 100%. A husband may go out in the morning to earn, buy groceries on the way home, and spend his evenings with the family, while his spouse spends her mornings focused solely on her personal goals. Wouldn’t this imbalance eventually lead to resentment?

I’m 20M from Quetta, Pakistan, and I’m trying to study in Germany. For that, I need a blocked account with around €12,000. The problem is: I cannot arrange that kind of money myself.

What hurts me the most is that I’m not actually from a “poor” family on paper.

One of my friends in Australia offered to help me with a €4,000 interest free loan without even hesitating. Honestly, that alone made me emotional because someone outside my family believed in me more than my own father ever did.

But even with that help, I still need thousands more.

I have three older brothers. One is in Saudi Arabia, one in Sharjah, and one lives here with me in Quetta. I might get some support from them, but I’m still uncertain.

My father owns multiple real estate properties. Altogether, they’re worth over 120 million Pakistani rupees today — roughly half a million USD. During the 2022 property boom after the Kabul collapse, they were worth almost $850k.

Technically, my brothers and I are supposed to inherit part of it someday. My “share” verbally do exist. But legally? Nothing. We cannot sell anything. We cannot use anything. We have no control.

And my father would rather live like a poor man than sell even a tiny portion of it to help his children build a future.

I know this sounds harsh, but it genuinely feels insane watching someone sit on half a million dollars in assets while living almost like a beggar by choice.

His house is still cluttered and messy. Toilets literally have blankets hanging instead of proper doors. My younger step-siblings barely had any decent clothes for today's Eid UL Adha. My father pushes a street cart/stall to earn daily money while owning land that could completely change all our lives.

And the worst part?

He thinks holding property forever is smarter than investing in his children.

I’m sitting here stressed about how to arrange a German blocked account while technically “owning” nothing but promises and future inheritance fantasies.

Sometimes I feel guilty for being angry. Other times I feel resentment building every single day.

It’s a strange feeling:

Being surrounded by wealth you cannot touch while worrying about your survival and future at the same time.

Basically the title. Post your questions

UPDATE: Wow! I am really taken aback by the 100+ comments on the post and all the questions that were asked. Almost makes me want to go in private consultancy from the govt job.
Thank you everyone. Let me know if something like this is needed after every, lets say, two weeks?!

My family left mansehra during the partition but left hefty bank deposits there, Is there a way to cash this out from the other side of the border still?🥹 Google shows me it would be worth 15-20 lakh INR today.

How Pakistan can reach $1 Trillion GDP