In January, I made the decision to lend my parent Bum (who is no Bum!) $15k to pay off some credit card debt.  I believe that since I asked and accepted financial assistance from Bum for my 1L and 2L year for some living expenses I contributed to the debt.  But, the biggest culprit was my older sibling the Other Child who refuses to get a real world job and is going after his entrepreneurial dreams while Bum picks up the check.  I tried conditioning the loan on Bum cutting out the Other Child financially but Bum was having none of that so the $15k was a no-strings-attached unsecured interest free personal loan.

The only drawback to the loan was that I was not willing to wait around for my $15k to be repaid.  I wanted an aggressive repayment plan since Bum wasn’t willing to cut the Other Child out.  I lend the money this January.  I specified that I wanted my first payment of $5k on March 31, next $5k on June 31, and the next $5k on October 31 and oh maybe a nice little “gratuity” in December for being so so considerate. 

At the end of my post I asked my readers whether now that I have paid off the $15k in credit card debt, whether Bum will save the money to repay me or whether the increased cash flow means more money will end up going to the Other Child.   Guess what happened?  Bum is doing both.  Yes, both! 

Bum Spends More on the Other Child  

Bum is spending approximately $1,000-$1,200 per month on the Other Child for residential rent, office space rent, student loan payments, car insurance, food, gas, cell phone etc…  It started with $500-$700 and now it is almost double.  So, readers who predicted the Other Child will really benefit from this move were correct.  The Other Child is benefitting like crazy.  Its entire lifestyle is subsidized by Bum. 

Bum is Saving More

But, Bum is also saving money.  In fact, Bum already has my payment of $5k saved up that is due on March 31.  I think the high interest credit card debt was a huge burden on Bum and making it all go away in one swoop was a good thing and it is enabling Bum to save more (and spend more on the Other Child).  So, right now things are looking good but nothing is final until the $5k hits my bank account on the 31^st. 

So, in this transaction everyone wins except for Bum. 

• The Other Child gets more financial support and can continue working on its entrepreneurial venture. 
• The credit card companies got their payment. 
• I will (likely) get all my money back and I am expecting a little extra in the form of a gift. 
• Bum gets to continue supporting a grown adult, live an even more frugal lifestyle, work harder and longer, forego fully contributing to the 401(k) etc…  Poor Bum.   

And on top of all this, I went to visit Bum this past weekend and dropped a huge bomb about my career.  More to come on that.