My wallet is a pile of ashes these days...

It goes without saying that kids today are more privileged than ever before.  Growing up I never was without, but we didn't have video games, cell phones or even our own car unless we paid for it ourselves.

I admit that I've somewhat spoiled my children, ok a lot!

The end of a school year always proves to be expensive, pre-purchasing school supplies, new summer clothes, end of year school parties, gifts for for the teacher.  For my college kids the expense of moving them home for the summer.  This year with two kids graduating it meant travel costs, hotel rooms, nice family dinners with 18+ in attendance and new dress clothes.  Add in that we felt we should reward our kids for their accomplishment with some extra $$ for their pockets.  All this activity made my wallet start to smolder.

My first apartment was furnished with my twin bed from home, a beat up dresser, a card table with three chairs and a 15" black and white TV that sat on the floor in my living room.  About a month after moving in I bought a rust colored couch from a friend that I covered with a blanket because it was in pretty bad shape.  

Matthew is starting off much better. I gave him the queen bed frame and mattress set from our once guest bedroom, additionally, I gave him two chairs with ottomans from our living room and my dishes. I then took him to Ikea and bought him a new couch, coffee table, two end tables, TV stand and a dresser.  My mother bought him a night stand to match after I told him he had enough and explained that my wallet was on fire.  My mom then took him to Kohl's yesterday and got him new linens for his bed, new towels, silverware, pillows, pots and pans and a variety of kitchen supplies, but still not finished, they went to the grocery store and bought a broom, mop and a bunch of cleaning supplies because she thought he shouldn't be overwhelmed with all those additional expenses.   

Where was this mom when I moved out?

My garage is now packed with boxes and furniture and I have just spent more money reserving a U-Haul and hotel room for our pending trip next week to assist him move.  Why you may ask am I helping him move? Because the 4 cylinder SUV that I gave him earlier this year, cannot pull a trailer and because he is under 25 and legally can't rent a moving truck.  My wallet is now burnt to a crisp!

The sacrifice for all this spending, no vacation this year... those were covered by William's competition trips, trips out of town for graduations and now a moving trip!

Even now that my wallet is a pile of ash, I would do it over again knowing that my kids started out a little be better with less struggles.  In the mean time while Matthew is enjoying steak in his new comfy apartment and knowing William will smile when he gets his pre-packaged school supplies, we will be living off hotdogs, mac-n-cheese and soup the next few months in attempts to recover from this past month.

Hugs

~G