Financial Independence

It’s no secret that college years are full of instant meals, hole-filled jeans, and painstaking hours at crap jobs for a lot of us.  I came from a fairly affluent family.  My parents were always able to provide well for me and my four brothers and sisters.  We lived in a beautiful home and had a very full life of adventures, family games, and late-night laugh fests. 

When I went to college, my relationship with my parents became very stressed.  They were funding my school and trying to communicate costs when they weren’t there to see what I was buying put a lot of strain on us.  So I decided to cut myself off.  A more financially comfortable lifestyle was not worth damaging my family in any way.  I used my college fund that had been set aside since I was a baby to pay for the tuition scholarships didn’t cover and got a job.

My first summer at school, I spent in Stillwater so I could stay close to Doc.  I paid for all my stuff through a $5.25 per hour job bagging groceries.  Doc would pay for food a few times a week and I would cook it and clean up so I was contributing.  The next year I worked full time at the Family Resource Center while taking 18 hours of classes.  It was rough, but my relationship with my parents improved, and I was able to spend some time supporting myself before Doc and I decided to partner up for life.

four years later and he still looks at me like that 

We have had help from Matt’s parents and my parents have surprised us with “just because!” gifts throughout the last two and a half years.  Our busy, hardworking periods were broken up by wonderful family vacations.  We have done surprisingly well with what we’ve had.  We’ve never needed to worry that we were not going to have money.  We’ve never had to write a bad check or make a late payment because we didn’t have money.  AND we’ve never felt like we were that destitute.

So now, I am starting my career (wow that is nice to say).  Thanks to the support from our families, our own determination and independence, and the fact that we have always felt wealthy in our lives regardless of what we’ve done without, we’re now able to truly be on our own!  Another step forward for the Fowlington Clan! 

Thank you to our friends and family who have made our lives rich when our pockets weren’t. 

Thank you to my husband, who understands me to the depth of my soul and has always treated my dreams as though they are his.

Thank you to my parents for encouraging my independence.

Thank you to Jenks Public Schools for giving me a job! Go Trojans!

P.S. Doc loves that I’m the sugar momma.  It’s wonderful to get to support our family for awhile and maybe spoil my husband for a bit before he blows my paycheck out of the water. :)