My mom is 70 years old, widowed, and retired. She’d managed to save about $5,000 for emergencies.
One Saturday, I stopped by and noticed that her refrigerator had completely broken down and needed to be replaced, so I offered to take her to the store.
Mom immediately shook her head and said, “Honey, I don’t have my savings at the moment.”
I stared at her. “But where are your savings?”
Mom said, “I lent all that money to Lauren. She came to me and begged me for money to repair her car, and she promised she’d pay me back.”
Lauren is my brother’s wife. Interestingly enough, she’d never really had much of a relationship with my mom, but the second she needed something, she went straight to her. My mom is a very kind and humble person, and she has a hard time saying no to anyone.
But if I’d been in her place, I would’ve said no to Lauren.
The thing is, Lauren is extremely irresponsible with money. She can buy a new designer dress for thousands of dollars but then fail to pay something as basic as her insurance.
And almost six months earlier, she’d damaged her SUV in a minor accident. She only had liability coverage, so her insurance covered the other driver’s repairs, but not hers.
I immediately called Lauren and asked when she planned to pay my mom back, since six months had already passed.
She just laughed into the phone and said, “Yeah, I borrowed it. I clearly needed it more than your mom did!”
I tried to stay calm. “When exactly are you going to pay my mom back? That was her emergency savings.”
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
TAP ” READ MORE ” 👇
