“Lynn” is learning how to conserve her money and her time, both of which will benefit her children in the long run.
When volunteer mentors started working with “Lynn,” they were immediately struck by her bank statements and how many transactions she had. She was spending money multiple times every single day, whether at the grocery store, Walmart, dollar store, drive-thru restaurants or the gas station. This spending habit coincided with Lynn’s pace of life — constantly running around, dropping off or picking up the kids, racing to the next place, go-go-going, living in survival mode without any real strategy.
Permission to ‘do without’
To help Lynn become more intentional with her spending, her mentors challenged Lynn to go a day (or maybe two!) each week without spending any money at all. This challenge would require making a meal plan and shopping lists, which the mentors helped with, and giving herself permission to “do without.”
“I used to spend so much time running to the store. When you stop, you realize how much more time you have.”
After a few weeks of the challenge, Lynn was happy to report back to her mentors that she went several days in a row spending no money at all. The only places she went were to work and to the kids’ daycare. She told her mentors, “I used to spend so much time running to the store. When you stop, you realize how much more time you have.”
In the FamilyForward program, Lynn is learning how to conserve her money and her time, both of which will benefit her children in the long run.