Budgets, Schedules, and Blessings of Mom!

Yesterday I got my days and nights mixed up. I slept almost all day, but then I felt rested and I was up all night working on paperwork and setting up a new 2009 system for bills. Last year I was overwhelmed and I got behind a few times resulting in a few late fees and increased interest rates. I am working hard not to let that happen again!

I am blessed to be able to take care of my 83 year old Mother. However, it's a big job to keep up with her bills and mine too. I am thankful for online Bill Pay! My dear daughter-in-law taught me how and helped me set up an online Bill Pay account. It has really been a blessing! I am working on a 2009 budget for Mom right now and a new filing system for keeping up with the bills/statements/checks/receipts.

As for the budget, just counting the items she uses on a daily basis is a trip. This includes stamps-she uses about 100 per month!; Cigs-I wish she'd quit, but at least she's down to one carton per week now; Wine-Her doctor told her it's good for her so no one else can convince her otherwise! And hair care-she has her hair done every two weeks by her long time high school friend and hairdresser! I also take her to the Chiropractor three times a week and to her regular doctor visits.

She is very set in her routines and does not like to change anything. I keep her in envelopes and stamps and she writes her friends daily, telling them what she did that day. She loves to make Pecan Tarts and S'mores and gives them to the mailman, the garbage man, recycle man, and anyone else who visits. She enjoys her sweets, yet she weighs herself daily and never gains a pound!

I try to make sure she has enough fruits and vegetables, easy to fix meats and dinners, and I take her meals I've prepared. If she doesn't like it, she lets me know! She will give it away if she can. I have to watch her because if she has more than one of an item, she will try to give that away too! I try to make sure she has enough in the freezer so she won't run out, but not too much either, so she won't give it away.

A few weeks ago I bought her two packages of bacon so I wouldn't have to go back to the store in a few days. It was on sale and she goes through it pretty quickly She cooks the entire package and keeps it in a Ziploc bag with hard boiled eggs and snacks on it during the day. She tried to give the extra package of bacon away. I'm glad I was there to stop her. I have to watch to make sure she doesn't freeze things that are better left unfrozen too, such as cottage cheese, tomatoes, whole squash, pork and beans... She has peanut butter and crackers and Smores in the freezer now.

It's a delight to be able to do things for her, after all those years she took care of me. I just hope I'm not letting her get too dependent on me. I've noticed the more I do for her, the more she wants me to do. I don't mind at all, but I don't want to take away her independence either. I had to take over when she was trying to bail out my nephews friends and 'inmates' with her credit cards. They were calling her collect for the credit card numbers for their bail money!

Last week she decided she was depending on me too much, so she told me she decided to be more 'independent'. She told me I could buy her some taxi cab vouchers. I don't think she'll use them, but if I'm not available to drive her to the store when she's out of wine or cigarettes, at least she can call a taxi. I can't let her have the checkbook anymore, or cash either, because she writes checks and mails cash to her favorite charities, not realizing if the money's not in the bank, the check won't clear! Or that if she spends the cash, it won't be there for the hairdresser on Wed. After having to pick up a few, she let me take over the check book. At least she realized it was too confusing to keep up with and now she lets me do it.

I'm thankful I have her with me and I hope and pray I will have her for a long time!