Budget Blues

Last night my cousin K called me upset because her mom went off on her.  Now my cousin and her mom (my aunt) are two the calmest, chillest people I know.  So, if my Aunt had reason to get upset I knew it had to be serious.  It turns out she was pissed because at the end of each week K has been calling her asking for money.  Not much money fifty dollars here, thirty dollars there.  But it has become a habit.  And unfortunately, this is all too familiar.

K's a few years older than I am, and without revealing my age, I'll say we're both thirty-something.  We're adults.  Grown ass women.  And there's no reason for us not to be financially stable by now.  But we're not.  She's an attorney, has a job and is still finding she's broke at the end of the week.  After bills, food, gas, and daily expenses she still needs a little extra help.  I can only imagine how retired parents feel when their adult children are in need of money.  It must be scary.  They may even feel like they failed to prepare their children for the real world.  More parents are supporting their adult children than ever before.  And take it from me, a freelance writer, my mom is helping me more than I want her to.  But if she didn't, I might be homeless.  As I pursue my dreams, my mom thinks helping me is her duty.  But I can't help but feel guilty and like I've failed her.  And I'm sure that's what my cousin K was feeling when her mom got annoyed with her lack of funds.  Money worries are all too common and since I can't stand stress or worrying or fear I had a long conversation with K to help her figure out how to make a change.

Budget.  That's what it boiled down to.  K, like most people, needed to sit down and write a budget for herself.  It's all too easy to spend money without knowing where it goes.  A budget is a good way of keeping track of life's expenses.  And a good way to save.  And an even better way to avoid stress. 

So, in my next post I'll list Ten Steps to Successful Budgeting.