Sense versus Cents

My newly independent daughter, Boog, has been living on her own for about two months. When she moved out, she had a limited amount of funds in her bank account, and instructions to find a job. Well, as you may know, finding a job is not easy. And she was no exception.

Nothing could have been worse when I get a call from her hearing her quite upset. It seems her money is disappearing from her bank account. How can this be? She hasn’t bought anything since she has been there. She did break down and buy one pair of shoes, but those were from Payless and weren’t very expensive. And she bought one Texas A&M shirt, since she is sticking out like a sore thumb with little to no maroon in her closet. And she maybe went to the grocery store once or twice. How is it possible that she has no money? That’s ALL she bought!

She was able to give me her access codes for her bank account. And I immediately see the problem. She apparently needed to learn that five dollars plus five dollars plus eight dollars plus two dollars plus five dollars plus… equals a lot of money. She needed to stop going to Starbucks, stop eating at Sonic, and stop spending money in small increments. She had gone through nearly $500 buying little or nothing.

She needed to start living like a college student, and start eating like a college student. She needed to buy more ramen and peanut-butter-and-jelly! No eating out… ever. No frills. No mani-pedi’s. Nothing.

Well, it has been about two weeks and she is doing great. It seems she has learned her lesson. She has gotten a job as a hostess at a restaurant. She is eating lots of plain bagels and macaroni, and seemingly nothing else.

And it makes me feel that we made the right decision sending her out of the nest to fly on her own. She is already soaring. And since she learned this lesson so quickly, I can only imagine how far she’ll go over the next several years.

I’m very proud of my Boog.