For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for November 20, 2023

That applies to teens and governments.

Before the lecture, Elly—try to find out WHY he needs the money. Is he in some kind of legal trouble? Is he being blackmailed?

Hey Michael… I have an idea… GET A JOB.

Don’t cave on this Elly. It’s how Michael learns how to be an adult.

When I was in college, the “Bank of Mom and Dad” had a very strict Loan Officer, and I knew better than to ask for anything beyond what I needed for basics. I got a job in the dorm cafeteria, a job teaching art to kids at the YMCA, I tutored a few fellow students in classes where I was doing better than they, and did a few library researches for a few of my professors. It wasn’t much money, but it filled in the corners. I also learned to live frugally but comfortably, something which is standing me in good stead now that I am retired and on a fixed income.

Dad borrowed from me. I was working part time as a CNA. Minimum was about $3.55/hr, and I was making $5.50/hr. Even then, but especially now, I pinch pennies so hard, I decapitate Lincoln.

My how fast the themes on For Better or For Worse changes from one to another.

Yesterday someone points out to Elly how wonderful motherly puppy love is!

And today nothing has rubbed off on Elly because she treats her first born son as worthless dirt!

Get a part time job on campus. Lots of us did that.

Mike needs to find a part-time job while he’s in school

People pay $5 for a coffee than complain about the price of gasoline!

I’ve been teaching this very lesson to my 20-year old and it MIGHT just be sinking in. He’s starting out in skilled trades so he makes decent money for a guy his age. Once I got him to stop “lighting it on fire” he’s been able to put together a nice fat nest-egg for a down payment on a car. He looked at his bank account, then looked at me, and I go the sheepish grin and the “You were right Dad!”

(As a parent, it’s not so much about being right as it is about when they finally start to appreciate the guidance you’ve been giving them.)

Thinking back to one of my college roommates. Daddy was an optometrist and paid for tuition, room, board, books, a car, a phone and gave him $500 spending money every month. He was always broke and even got a part time job to supplement his allowance. Meanwhile I survived on $100 a month I put aside from my second summer job. The full time summer job paid and a part time job during school paid for everything else. I could never understand where he spent his money.

It’s the eternal balancing act, even for some older grown-ups!

My heart bleeds, Michael.

My mom told me holding on to money in your hand without spending it is like holding a fistful of sand. First thing you do is place some in savings. My son became a comparison shopper when I stopped buying him clothes and just gave him a clothing/gas allowance. Then when he was in college he sent me a pic. wearing a pair of jeans he had “scored” at a thrift store. BTW my bank now offers 5%APY on a 7-month CD. They don’t post it, you have to look it up. Makes it fun to save, even if the feds take a cut.

Must be nice to go to college and have not only an allowance but parental money arriving randomly. Instead of working full time and also carrying student loans – and having to budget just to stay above water. Just saying.

Dad advised before i joined the Army, ‘Devide your monthly pay by 31, that’s your daily to spend less than that.’

He Called…. But no letter..

My definition of a rich person is anyone whose income exceeds their outflow.

On top of that Elly is unemployed. She does not exactly have a surplus disposable income. And no, Elly does not seem to be the type to sponge off her husband.

Truer words were never spoken.

Exactly. Spot on!

Boy did I learn that the hard way as an undergrad. It made such an impression on me that for years I was terrified to buy so much as a new book or a train ticket or a pair of jeans. Given how lean some of those years, that frugality wasn’t such a bad thing.

My personal experience with my own parents is that they tend not to understand that things are not as cheap as they were when they did things. My poor sister did not get a scholarship and was completely dependent on my mother for her university money. After several conversations with her mother that were not unlike what Mike is having with Elly here, she had to produce a spreadsheet of all her expenses and prove to her mother that things cost what things cost. Once she saw the spreadsheet, my mother’s eyes were opened as to how much things cost and she stopped fighting with my sister and making accusations of her overspending.

The giveaway with Elly here is “stop buying fast food”. That tells you that fast food was considered by Elly to be less expensive than buying food at the university cafeteria. When I was at school in the 1980s, I found the university cafeteria was not only expensive because they charged a la carte, but the food was terrible tasting. It was extremely disappointing. Fast food was actually cheaper. You could buy a fast food burger for $1 back then. In Elly’s day, going to school in the 1960s, it was probably the other way around.

That’s true

Isn’t that what John used to say about Elly!?

This is Canada. Michael can’t get food stamps?

There were times when I now think I should have asked my Mom for extra money and didn’t. Like when it cost more than half my monthly spending money buying my text books for the semester.

Got to wonder if the Pattersons forget they live in Canada.

Michael can get on welfare.

Why is Elly worried about Elizabeth not wearing a hat and coat in the winter months. If Elizabeth gets pneumonia, this is Canada. OHIP, remember?

Think back to when you were his age Elly, I would think that you probably did the same thing as Michael.

How did Lynn Johnston deal with this is real life? She became a multimillionaire exploiting her family; how much of her windfall did she share with her kids?

Or this:

Elly: Did you beg for money in the 8-page letta to Rhetta? Yeah, that’s right. Let’s see Rhetta take care of you the way I have since the day you entered this life.

And after Elly hangs up, she rushes off to the big shoe sale at Eaton’s.

Stick to your guns on this one or you will be sorry…..

There are some, like myself, with “Executive Function Disorder”, with comorbidities of ADHD … who try their dangest to budget, but it never works. EVER.

Ellie, wasn’t it your job, and John’s, to teach Michael those things?

tell him to get a job, hes an adult now and should be partying and eating out

Amen.