If you live anywhere near Phoenix, AZ, you have probably heard the story of Shanesha Taylor. She is the woman accused of leaving her children in a hot car while she went in to do a job interview. A single mom, she left her 2 year old and 6 month old in her car while she tried to get a job. Police heard the children crying and she was charged. However, support for this single mom poured in as people saw the tearful mug shot and learned that she was homeless. At least she was trying to get a job, right?
In the following weeks, over $100,000 was raised to help her get back on her feet. She got a place and seemed to be recovering. Part of her deal with the courts, however, was that she take $40,000 of those donations and put them in trust for her children. In addition, she would attend parenting classes. But, this Woman Claims She Can’t Afford to Put $40,000 of $100,000 in Donations Away for Her Kids.
The deadline came and went and she never put the money away. So the deal is off the table now.
Here is the deal, though, when the courts asked her for her budget, she submitted it, claiming it cost over $4000 a month to take care of her and her kids. Her rent is only $1,000. With expenses like $300 a month for clothing, $160 for cable and $115 for internet, and $300 for dining out and entertainment, people are outraged at the ‘misuse’ of funds that she is choosing.
I am torn on this one. I am a single mom with three children with a mortgage that is way higher than her rent. I go out to eat, have excesses I could cut and even pay for gymnastics and such and I am barely above her $4,000 mark on my expenses per month. I also work 7 days a week on my own business (ADayinMotherhood.com) I could live comfortably on $100,000 for at least 3 – 4 years if I lived thin. So if I had to give $40,000 to my kids in a trust, I am still looking at 1 to 2 good years with no other income where we would want for nothing.
However, I do not think that the budget is out of control in most areas. Sure, I pay less than $200 a month for cable, internet and Netflix, which is a lot less than she does, but I also live in an area where it could be cheaper. I also see a lot of things she could cut down. I also do not understand how she can’t afford to put the money away for the kids that the courts want.
But, she is a single mom who was trying to at least get a job. I absolutely do not think she made a good decision to leave her kids in the car. No way. And I would happily hand over most of any donation to save for my kids when they are older. But are her expenses out of control? Or does she deserve the outrage over her ‘unnecessary’ expenses?
What do you think? I am torn…
There is no reason her budget couldn’t be lowered! We are a one-income family of six and we live on $3000 a month.
I tend to agree with you!
My question is why does she need $300 a month for clothes? I might spend that much in six or more months for my family of 5, but definitely not every month.
I am with you!! I don’t even buy clothing monthly!
I know, right? I just bought myself a new winter coat for the first time in nearly seven years, and heaven knows I need a new pair of jeans but they’ll have to wait. There’s just no reason to get brand new clothes all the time..
I want a new coat!!! LOL :)
She doesn’t NEED and I go without: 50.00 for car maintenance each month, $300 on clothes? Tell her to hit Salvation Army like I do a couple times a year. Ditch the mobile internet and cell phone for $145 a month. I haven’t used a cell in 10 years and I MANAGE TO SURVIVE!!! $250 on household expenses? Has she ever heard of the Dollar STore?? Umm… NO entertainment budget… PERIOD. If you can’t afford it, you don’t do it!!! Ditch Netflix and Alisha’s expenses. And unless she travels a distance to work, she could save 50. on gas. This is ridiculous.
I don’t get the mobile internet thing. I don’t have that and my phone works everywhere?
The thing is, this money was donated. She could put back the 40 k & then start over with that budget. It’s not like she had a high standard of living before hand if she was homeless so maybe she just needs a little coaching. She is probably subconsciously putting as much things & distance between her now & being homeless but if she doesn’t budget better now she will likely end up back on the streets. Not everyone gets a 100k starter from strangers…use it wisely. Did she get the job?
Nope, she has no job and someone in the area told me her ex boyfriend moved back in and he has no job either
Who the hell is Alisha?
How about a Straight Talk phone with unlimited internet for $60 instead of a cell phone and added mobile internet for $150? You need Netflix on top of $160 cable and you can’t get a bundle so you need $100+ internet on top of it?
There are so many ways she can trim this for sure
So why does she have a auto loan payment if she has all the funds. And the gas expense? If she does not have a job, where is she driving so much. I am a single mom living on way way less than this. I get prepaid cell for 55 dollars a month and got a deal on my cable for $64 including internet. Between my job and my child support I live on a little over $20,000 a year. I am constantly budgeting in my head. I could support for daughter for quite a few years on $100,000.
Same here lady!!
There are people who can handle money and those that cannot. There are some who make wise choices, and some who simply don’t. In this case, I don’t think she is using the money wisely – and while this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get her life put back together, she obviously doesn’t see it that way. And overall that it truly sad – for her and her children.
I could not agree more!
I don’t see how you are, on the fence with this one! Common sense, she is wrong all the way around. Look at that list of expenses! Wasting money because she knows people are paying. You do without if you don’t have a job. You don’t make people feel sorry for you. My mom raises 3 kids on a walmart income, and NEVER used that much in a month. You go out and get a job. And I wonder, why no money coming in for the kids..no fathers, no need to push the state to get that money..no one in his family will help if you are a single mother, broke? I really could careless of this woman thief. Take her kids till she learns how to think of them first.
What a lot of you are missing is the fact that these sheets are handed to people who many times have no idea what those numbers should be, so they take a good guesstimate. Or they know what so and so pays or what they used to pay, or what they paid six years ago etc. And then someone turns that into a monthly amount for a budget sheet. I just went through this for a loan refi and thought who buys this stuff monthly. .. but that’s how they want it broken down. Regardless, do I agree with her numbers, no, am I here to judge, no. I have no idea honestly if that’s even really her’s, nor do I care to get upset about it. I wish her children the best!
My hubby and I both work. We can’t afford $300 in entertainment, $160 for cable, $300 for clothing a month & $70 for mobile internet.
What of those are necessities?
Where’s the help for the WORKING parents who struggle to take care of their family and meet the basic needs without all the ‘extras’ in life?!?
I agree that sometimes we have to guestimate our income for things, and an attorney probably ‘helped’ her, but I still think she can put $40K away… LOL
Almost everyone here is thinking of this budget in terms of adding that $100,000 to the situations they are already in. $300 a month for clothes only sounds like a lot if you already have a fair basic working wardrobe–if you have to collect it from scratch, you can see where the money goes…and that doesn’t count keeping small toddlers in clothes, too. Sure, she might cut her entertainment and just keep the kids in the house watching TV all the time, but that $300 might get them a couple of outings to modest restaurants and a movie or game of mini-golf or a trip to a zoo. Sure, she might ditch cable and stick with only Netflix, but that doesn’t save enough to put $40,000 away. And her grocery bidget is similar to mine with just 2 people. Also notice that she does not list health insurance, which could be higher than her rent. Yeah, she could get this down, scrimp to thepoint of poverty, but this is how much ot costs to live moderately. This is why stagnant wage growth is hurting people. This is why the Fight for 15 is so important.