When they move out to their own place...

WHEN YOUR CHILD MOVES OUT ON THEIR OWN...
HOW TO FURNISH A STUDIO APARTMENT CHEAP
Working Title: How I saved my bank account the second time around...
Remember when you gave birth to your first child? You bought all new clothes, bought the best diapers money could buy? When your second child came along, you knew better... well here is a story with the same moral... I hope you find it funny, entertaining, open and honest. Nothing is as open or honest, or as funny or as entertaining as the truth...
My son turned 18 and graduated high school 2 years ago. When he said, 'Mom, I want to move to Phoenix', I thought my heart would break. My heart healed, but my pocketbook almost didn't. That's right, we did what you are planning to do. We bought him new dishes, new appliances, cleaning products, furniture, towels, bedding, personal care items, just about everything I would have bought myself if it had been me. You know what I say now? It ISN'T me. It's a kid who will move again and again and again and at no time will everything (or sometimes anything) acgepany him from one place to the next. The things that do won't be taken care of like I would take care of them. Let me explain...
LONG STORY SHORT...
We helped him find a studio apartment. Co-signed the lease. Rented a moving truck and helped him move. Went to visit him a month later and realized that the neat and tidy child I had raised had gone crazy. My beautiful oak table? Drink rings and burns from God Only Knows What. His mattress, boxsprings, and frame? Just the mattress now remained. 'Dude, what happened to your bed?' 'The room looked so small with the frame and boxspring that Ithrew it out and nowmy place looks a lot bigger'. Oh. The cleaning supplies? Still in the pretty-but-manly basket I had given him. The toaster, the coffee pot, the waffle iron, the can opener? Still in their boxes. I could continue in this vein, but you get the idea.I'll moveon... and, well,so did he. After his lease was up, the one I paid the rent on more often than he did, he moved to California. Threw most of the stuff away or stored it inMY garage. Yes, we rented another truck. Don't go there... After 5 months, he moved back to our fair little rural city. Didn't bring squat with him. Got a place with a 'friend'. Moved some stuff out of my garage. Things didn't work out there, so he gave notice and his 'friend' destroyed most of what was left. 'Mom, I'm moving back to Phoenix'. He moves down there with I don't know who, but apparently they had 'stuff'. My son took what he had left of the 'stuff' I gave him: Zip. Zero. Nada. Last month he calls and says 'Mom, I gotta get my own place. Will you help me?'. What is a mother to do? Read On...
FURNISHING A STUDIO FOR CHEAP...
okay is a great place to shop. I'm getting new dishes. The kid gets my old, mismatched and chipped stuff, along with some old, mismatched flatware. I'm getting new appliances. He gets what still works, including an old coffee pot that my husband has always hated. My husband loves the new one... The kid gets whatever stuff I can find at a garage sale, a penny okay sale, left overs from what I don't want, don't need, or don't use in my own home. A futon from walmart for $199? Nope. A futon that doubles as a bed and a couch from the garage sale down the street for $5 and a new bottle of lysol and febreeze. New bedding? Nope. Two sets of sheets withpower rangerson them that I got on okay for $2.50 apiece, and a blanket I used to tie down his bike with. New dishes? Nope. Free, right out of my kitchen. New towels? Nope. Free, right out of my bathroom. Cleaning products? Right out of my laundry room. Condiments? Out of my cabinets. Getting the picture?
WHAT ARE YOU REALLY TRYING TO SAY?
Here is the moral of my story: When it's time to let the bird fly, don't feather the nest with everything new. It won't last, and if it does, you wouldn't recognize it anyway. Make a list of everything they are going to need and then give them your old stuff and YOU get new. Buy it on okay, buy it from a garage sale, buy it anywhere you want to, but don't set up an apartment that you would live it. You aren't going to live there. What they don't like, let them buy and replace. After the 4th move...
TOTAL COST THE FIRST TIME: $1600.00
TOTAL COST THE SECOND TIME: $100.00
YOUR NEW DISHES: PRICELESS
Save the money you'd spend on new furnishings to help pay their rent or buy them food. Trust me. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I'm crazy and your kid wouldn't.... Yes, your kid too.
My last child is 12. I've already started looking for my new dishes...
I didn't write this to regemend brands, but more to let you in for what's going to happen the first and second time your child moves out. Some things you can buy brand new very cheaply. The day after Thanksgiving, WallyWorld always has a big sale that includes $5 appliances, like coffee makers, waffle irons, irons, etc. Buy one of each and there is their Christmas all in a nut shell. But seriously, don't expect to see any of it when they move again... You usually hear or see the phrase "Go Big or Go Home", but in this area it is "Go Cheap or Go Home". Honest. Now I know you're going to do it big the first time. After they move the second time, gee back and read this again. You'll laugh. Hard!!!
If this article made you laugh or even crack a smile, then it was helpful and I'd appreciate your checking the 'helpful' box down below.