Happy Mothers Day Mom From Your Broke Daughter

I was supposed to post this yesterday, but honestly I fell dead asleep entirely too early and woke up this morning ridiculously late. It’s my body running the show I think. I hustle and work so hard during the week that I sometimes wonder what I actually did and then when the weekend gets here I crash for a period of time so long that I begin to wonder if I have every terminal disease that includes fatigue as a symptom. (Which, by the way, is ALL of them.)

Hopefully my boss does not fire me.

Anyway, you are not a true blogger in the blogosphere if you don’t use your blog as a gift. By gift I  mean the kind of gift that you don’t really get anything from except a warm fuzzy feeling. If it’s Mother’s Day and you happen to be a broke blogger, your words can be a free gift for any holiday.

Things I Have Learned From My Mother About Money

You Go to School to Learn Not for a Fashion Show:  Clothes are for wearing. That’s it. Luckily, we have resources now that weren’t always available so that we can buy fancy clothes once in a while for almost nothing, but when the jeans and sneakers for a junior high aged child costs as much as a new car payment, we should reconsider how important it really is to have these items. I know I still have a small section of my brain labeled “Diva”, but I also know that there are more important things to spend money on.

If You Want Something Save Your Money:  Anything that’s worth having can wait until you have enough money to pay for it. Do not use credit if you can’t pay it off. Do not purchase things you cannot afford unless you have taken the time to save your money for it. And work hard. You are always rewarded for hard work.

Pay Bills On Time: For my entire life, my parents have been the types of people that pay their bills when they get them. No waiting until they feel like it. No waiting until the utility company threatens to shut it off. Pay the bills first and if you have any money to do anything else then maybe you can. Obviously if you have nothing left after paying bills then the bills either need to be reduced or you just don’t have anything. Either way, bills are the priority.

Eat Within Your Means: We have eaten MRE’s (military packets of food) and we have eaten simple meals. I don’t recall eating out a lot growing up unless it was a special occasion, which means we ate what was able to be prepared from the cupboards. The funny thing is, I don’t remember eating anything terrible or weird. We always had good food and MREs are even good if you pick the right one. (I’ve heard they are better now, by the way.) Always enough food. Never hungry.

Love is Free: No matter how much you mess up. Regardless of the mistake or transgression. No matter how much we may have embarrassed her at times. It may cost you rent to live there as an adult, but you can always go home.

And love is always free.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. Thanks, and I love you.

Hope everyone has a great one, whether the person that raised you was your mom, your grandma, or even your dad, make sure you thank someone (even if it’s by blog).