Hey. So here's my problem. I'm a college student at the moment and because I'm in college and under the age of 21, I'm receiving child support to help pay for college and my bills. This money is set to run out in just a few months but for now, it's a huge help. The child support was initially for my brother and I. As soon as we both turned 18 and were enrolled in school, we'd receive child support. For the first two years we were supposed to benefit from the support my mother was taking the money. By the time I got in touch with a case manager and got the situation handled, my brother had long since dropped out of school and found a job in food service. I got a lot of flack for drawing from the child support (and at the time, I had just lost my job, I was in school, and I could barely afford food or clothing despite living with another relative). I offered half to my brother, since he'd never once seen a single cent of the child support ever, and he was going back to school, and we went from there. Granted, he wouldn't have been eligible for the child support anyway- he was over the age of 21 and had been out of school for long enough that he wouldn't have been able to earn any of the money. The arrangement worked out great for a while. I finally got a better job, moved out on my own. My income covered my rent and bills very nicely and I was able to put most of my child support money in savings. Brother got his half of the money on time. My brother has a job, goes to school, but he doesn't pay rent and he doesn't really have any bills. Well, then things turned really far south for me. I have medical issues that came up, meaning an ER visit, doctors, etc. I owe a pretty significant amount of money. A couple slow months at work and I've been pretty broke. My medical bills will probably go to collections pretty soon. What didn't help for me was the fact that I discovered my brother had used a significant amount of the child support money for a new gaming den set-up. I get that it shouldn't matter what someone uses the money you give them for but it really rubbed me the wrong way considering I may have to go in for surgery pretty soon. I resorted to lying about missing a couple child support payments so I could use the extra half to pay rent and catch up on credit card payments. I need the money. I know it's not going to last forever but I really regret giving him the other half. I want out of the arrangement but I feel like my family's going to see me as greedy.
What about telling the truth? If they call you greedy because you're using your money for vital medical expenses and to cover bills, then I'd say they're the greedy ones.
When it comes to finance, telling the truth might not always be the best option. I can somewhat relate to your situation because I'm in a similar one myself. I need a certain amount of money to continue my studies, and my mum is considering giving me just 'enough'. My dad and I just had a discussion about this and we decided that I would have told her that I have less money in my account that actually is. If she found out, she would probably think I'm greedy or a leech. But whatever, I need all the good head start I can possibly get. I will repay my debts eventually but I have to put myself in a best position possible. I hope my situation will shed some lights on how to handle yours.
