I was just about to come off the PC yesterday to get started on finishing the curtains I been trying to make for weeks! When the phone rang and at the other end was a distressed Elisabeth, calling about her dog Ayla. The long and short of it, she was ill, Elisabeth didn’t have the time or money to get her to the vet. A 100 miles round trip to collect Ayla and $309 of vet bills, she is now ensconced on the patio outside. Now I just have to persuade Elisabeth to hand over the care of Ayla to us, as it is obvious that the moment she doesn’t have the resources to look after her. That is a shame because she has managed to train Ayla really well and she is such a lovely dog.
Last night, Gordon and I were wondering what are we going to do about Elisabeth (other news filtered in during the day, which angered Gordon). She is not a bad kid, far from it but she has no idea about finances at all and with such a low paying job she has at the moment, there really is not much option for her. I can understand her frustrations, people of her age have fun, fun and more fun but on $8 an hour there is not a lot of fun to be having. Hopefully things will get better after July when her lease runs out and she returns home for a while. Of course we will be charging B&L but nothing like the rent she is paying at the moment. Moving here, will give her more job opportunities, she might actually get up the dizzy heights of a salaried position, rather than the hourly one she is on now.
Elisabeth’s problems only make us concerned about Alan and Emily. Alan should have a ton of money as he is working each weekend between 16-20 hrs plus he has his allowance from us but he still makes that call, “Mum pleeeze can u……..?”. Why, I don’t know because he doesn’t seem to do any thing. (at the weekend in fairness, he doesn’t have the time). Now it looks like he will be starting work full-time having come to the realisation he is not college material (for now anyway). As he has moved the futon and the TV into his room, I suspect he is planning to stay with us for a while. However, the Mum pleeze move has got to stop!
Emily has been very frugal this semester and I am proud of her but I worry about her decision to move into a apartment with 3 others next semester. I don’t think she has heard her sister very clearly…..its seems like a cheaper option but it really isn’t. Maybe she will surprise us and prove us wrong. Of course, Emily has the added problem of having to buy expensive supplies for her art classes, so she will no doubt work next semester (everyone does it but it doesn’t mean we approve of it).
I remember eking out my grant when I was student, huddling under a pile of blankets, making 50p in the meter last as long as I could. Unfortunately, like Elisabeth, once I got a job, it was pretty poorly paid and I soon had an overdraft but that isn’t an option over here. Here, they charge a fortune for such a service. Must admit it was the one thing Gordon and I disagreed over a lot in our early years together. I was and am hopeless with money matters but I was left in charge of our budget! Being ashamed of my failure, I would hide the fact from Gordon until I couldn’t take the guilt anymore. I am still in charge of the day to day expenses but our savings( that diminishing fund) are in Gordon’s name and I don’t have a credit card. That way unless I have the money I can’t spend it. Hopefully that is the one thing we have manage to convince the kids about, don’t take on credit cards until you can afford to pay off the balance each month. Banks give them out way too easily these days and then we wonder why the country is in a mess! Unfortunately, one of the lessons the kids seem to have learn is mine, spend and live the guilt until you break down.
Anyway. I am sure they will managed to find a way through life in the end, we couldn’t have failed that badly could we?
