I’m a very frugal person, I rarely if ever spend on anything unessisary, hobby-wise Warcraft 3 is still my game of choice(No monthly fee for me!) But my father(And sister) are both spendaholics. They spend like there is no tomorrow. It amazes me as my father gets raises, he raises his spending in line. My sister on the other hand is broke all the time(She goes to a Starbucks/WaWa 1 or 2 times a DAY) even though we get the same checks(At college) and I had a ‘hefty’ surplus to enjoy this summer on.

Basically my problem is my father uses my credit card like it is his, which works both well and bad. The good is he pays on it every 2 weeks, the bad news is he insists on putting dinner on it, and even my sister’s books! He is steady with the payments, and has guaranteed me my cards come first when money gets tight, but I’m really afraid of him getting me in credit trouble over time. But at the same time I’m too young and not nearly sufficient enough to break out on my own… Leads to sleepless nights, I’ll tell you that, but it is good to know he considers building my credit a priority. I’ve found a lot of peace reading about other people’s situations.
Dosen’t life find a way tosuck and rule at the same time

They had no children and hadn’t planned to have any. They were constantly replacing their possessions with new ones: furniture, TVs, houses, cars, even pets. Rarely did any one item last more than a year in their possession. They bought and sold homes at least 6 times in six years. When the Mazda Miata came out, they had to be the first to get it, paying something like a $5000 premium for the privilege. When CDs (music kind) started being marketed in earnest, they got rid of all their cassette tapes and repurchased their music in CD form.

Her sister (also a co-worker) was driven crazy by this, but she was also the beneficiary of her sister’s nuttiness: she bought a huge-screen TV off Sis for $40, new beds for her kids, etc.

The saddest situation was the pets. They’d take in little Fido or even buy a purebreed kitty for big bucks, then find a new home for the pet within months for one reason or another.

Me, I was a single mother of three hoping my kids were getting enough nutrition from mac & cheese. This drove me crazy.

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abby: the aunts and uncle borrowing from the college fund is also eek.. although I don’t really know the situation, it doesn’t sound too good.. leasing a brand new car and all too. sheesh.

mandy: ah moving in with a buddy that has different spending habit can be quite interesting. hopefully she’ll figure out eventually whats important and prioritize.

She has been complaining that our rent will be too high and that she can’t afford to put in money for a new fridge, yet the first thing she wants to get when we move in is internet and cable and of course a new tv. Nevermind that we will living 5 minutes from my folks’ place, with internet and cable available, but there’s nothing wrong with the tv – it’s a bit small and about 8 years old, but it works fine.

My suggestion was either to wait and see how she copes with the new rent etc (which was what I was planning to do) or she can get the stuff and pay those bills herself. I’ll bet they suddenly lose their ‘required’ status!

Confession: I did that before, ‘cept it was on a credit card. Trip to Paris when I couldn’t afford it. I eventually slapped myself back to reality, or rather, the debt did.

Yeah, sure, it’s a personal decision but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t bug me; it just means I don’t have a whole lotta rights to slap them upside the head. :)

Skye’s right, I don’t really try to say anything anymore. Like Tad said, it’s personal decisions, so the final decision rest w/ them. I’m glad I figured out before I was really in the pooper!

Lastly, I dont have a xbox or a cool dvd collection :P I do have urges to bring my receiver and speaker system over & rent the latest DVD release though.

Your sister sounds like one of my kids. Earn big, spend big is his mantra, or so it seems to me.

He just got a new car(he needed it though) and could have paid cash for it if he’d had saved over the years.

Dave

However, it’s not as funny when family does it. Unless it’s that annoying richy cousin of yours.

:)