The Good, the Kind, the Stupid and the Cruel

My mother called last night and we went over all of her bills. It's not as bad as I had thought. If it were too bad, I would have referred her to a credit counseling/debt management place that I found that seems reputable. It's the medical bills that puts her kind in a bind, but the credit cards are easy.

It went pretty well. I kept her on the phone as I checked her credit reports, we went over her monthly expenses and spending habits. I only had one Suze Orman moment when I reamed her for keeping a storage unit. I don't care how much the table cost you, I'll put it on Craigslist for $20 if my brother doesn't take it. It's costing you $145 a month to keep it and all the other crap that you'll never use because it's in storage. Get rid of everything, including the storage unit before another month passes. She's always been a pack rat, realistically, it'll be at least another 2 months before she'll consider giving it up. Although she did surprise me by calling last night. And by the way, no more money, not a single dime, to your kids. If they have a problem with that, have them call me. Not that I'll give them money, but I can give them a tongue lashing. Parasitic bastards with feelings of entitlement.

I don't think that the message was fully received, especially when she e-mailed me today and said that she thought that she had given me all of her debts, but she forgot about a friend who bought her dog food and gave her gas money. Then she said that she wants to brush up on her algebra and could I recommend a book. Umm, start at the library, or since this is the 21st century, the internet. You cannot afford a text book.

This is going to be hard, but I'm far enough away that I won't choke her like Homer Simpson. I should finish by saying that I'm very proud of her that she called me with her information, that's the first step, just step by step, one day at a time, and any other sitcom you can think of.