What goes around

Sometime when I was around fifteen or sixteen, my mother thought it was an excellent idea for me to take over the family finances. I can only assume she thought this was a great way for me to learn how to balance a checkbook or budget or perhaps she was just tired of dealing with it.

I took on the task with gusto.

For years I couldn't understand how although my mother seemed to make plenty of money- we never had anything. Don't get me wrong, we had a roof over our heads and food in the cupboard and shoes on our feet.

Expensive shoes. Always top of the line. I never understood this growing up. She'd drag us kicking and screaming into Kmart to buy school clothes but always the most expensive shoes.

Anyhoodle. I ran my analysis. I ran it backward and forward. I tweaked and played and massaged the numbers as though they were a fat businessman on vacation in Thailand and I still came out with the same conclusion.

So I sat her down and explained very careful. Mother (in my most snotty teen voice) we (as though I had anything to do with it) make plenty of money. If we cut out these expenses, I pointed, here, here, and here and are a little more focused you could add this, this and this to your savings. She nodded, thanked me and promptly walked over to the bar and poured herself a stiff drink. Bless her.

I remembered this little exchange the other day as I was balancing my own checkbook, thank God for computers, and preparing my own budget. Thank God for computers. It suddenly occurred to me- it wasn't that my mother was bad with money. It was that she was in denial.

I look at my own budget, carefully add up all the normal expenses- the housing, the food, electricity, cable, gas, car payment, etc and I get a number. One not huge but still impressive. Then I start taking into account all of the other things. The birthday presents, Christmas presents, the school clothes shopping, the misc notes the school sends home, art class and pictures, car maintenance, house maintenance, and I get another number, one which starts my heart beating just a little bit faster. Then I added my monthly Starbucks bill. That is the number that causes the computer to wheeze in terror.

So SuperGirl- how would you feel about taking over the family finances?

What goes around