You've got to read it to believe it... Abigail Cries Poor

[lilwriter85]

Is she the attorney who doesn't work outside the home or do I have the wrong blogger?

Yup, she is an attorney. I don't know if she has ever worked in a law office. IIRC, she married her husband while she was still in law school. I also wonder if she realized after law school that she didn't want to be an attorney and then threw herself into religion. I have known people who trained or got educated for certain careers. Then they realize they aren't right for the fields or will hate being a lawyer, nurse, teacher etc. Some people here have said that Abigail could do legal work or consulting part time. One of my high school teachers was a public defender for a few years and then got into teaching. She kept her law license valid to do side work or consulting.

[Jana814]

Oh my G-d. I have no words for this woman!! Poverty sucks!! Why would she do this to her kids!! Also the March for life? I mean come on u take 5 young kids out in Very cold weather!! Why!!

[divadivine]

I spent less than she did on her treats and Jesus sign for the last two weeks of food for myself, another adult, and three very hungry boys. That whole couponing thing does have a few benefits, and we have a great locals sale market. I suppose we legally qualify for poverty levels but I find it hard to claim that such when we still have everything we need easily.

Sorry. I'm not feeling fabulous about unemployment today, and this drivel makes me want to blow big rays of sunshine right up her impoverished [redacted] ass.

Grateful1230, I hear you on the couponing! I save a lot of money using my coupons. I am not talking about stockpiling 90 containers of mustard, I'm talking about getting ingredients for real meals I plan, cook and eat (and sometimes freeze for later-- I'm single, so if I make something like chili I freeze some for later.) However, that would mean whiny pants Abigail might have to put some time and effort into planning things. If I had a new kitchen, I'd most certainly be using it as much as possible!

If she's so stinkin' holy why do her kids need a sign on the wall proclaiming Jesus loves them? They should know this without buying a cheaptastic wallhanging from China from stupid Hobby Lobby. (nothing wrong with China... but seriously, that wallhanging was not worth $13.)

[SquirrelySquirrel]

I was thinking the same thing.

Me too. My brother and SIL are freaking horrible with money and are always trying to mooch off of everyone, and while my parents have just started bluntly refusing (they have nothing to spare anyway), SIL's folks will take them grocery shopping and pay for it. No one will give them cash anymore. They're the same way. They get a bit of money and it's a new TV or something (never mind paying people back), and then a couple of weeks later they're crying about having no food. It pisses me off to no end.

[pixydust]

I spent less than she did on her treats and Jesus sign for the last two weeks of food for myself, another adult, and three very hungry boys. That whole couponing thing does have a few benefits, and we have a great locals sale market. I suppose we legally qualify for poverty levels but I find it hard to claim that such when we still have everything we need easily.

Sorry. I'm not feeling fabulous about unemployment today, and this drivel makes me want to blow big rays of sunshine right up her impoverished [redacted] ass.

Grateful, i know how you feel. We are temporarily poor, my husband just got back to work last week (due to medical reasons, was unable to work for about 5 weeks)...to the point of selling what we could on craigslist and at pawnshops for gas and grocery money. It will take us about 2 months to recover from this, and it sucks. That is why Abigail makes me so mad. She would have a nervous breakdown having to budget like I have been doing.

[mockingbird]

She should move here! I have problems with heat tolerance so I always keep it pretty cold. It takes a lot for me to even turn my heat on! And 68 is plenty warm, lol.

ETA: Also, when I studied abroad they had the space heaters on a timer. So we only got heat from 10am-5pm. Bundle up. I was fine in 20-30*F weather in sweatpants and a sweatshirt under a comforter, you can survive 59*! :roll:

[kitkat]

I internet-know a number of women who are lawyers, and have chosen to stay at home while their children are small. All of them are able to pick up work on the side that allows them to work a few hours each week and make some extra money. Of course, these women aren't irresponsible, so their 'extra' means paying off the house faster, or being able to afford a nice vacation, because the things that their family really needs are already covered. Even if Abigail is dedicated to staying at home, she could easily earn the money she needs to keep her family from being in need.

[Rosie]

It makes me NUTS when able-bodied adults capable of making a living wage live on the edge as she does and cry poverty and worry about groceries at the end of the month. It's her choice to stay at home, for sure, but to stay at home and choose to be poor, with five children to support? Not ok, really very much not ok. At least not IMO.

Her incompetence w/regard to budgeting/cash flow is mind-boggling given the elite education she has. I don't get it at all.

[Trynn]

My parents generally keep the heat down to 55 during the day when no one is home. Then in the afternoon the heat rises to 72. We're not so bad off that we HAVE to do this, but it does help. However, sometimes we'll just set it to 68. Even then, sometimes I'll close the heat vent in my room because this is too hot for me.

One time my brother kept turning the heat up really really high, like 80 something. I was NOT happy with him. My mother said that he was having fever chills. I told him to grab some extra blankets, not turn up the thermostat. I would have even BROUGHT him the extra blankets.

[19 dogs and counting]

She doesn't seem very contemplative for being a "transitioning Third Order Carmelite." She sounds very ill prepared to run a family of 5. That's the money mismanagement I pulled in college and even now to some extent. However, I fully realize I need more budgeting experience and have decided on raising a dog instead of 5 kids while I learn. Has anybody read the whole blog? How new to Catholicism is she?

[GolightlyGrrl]

OK, just read the entry.

What. A. Dumbass.

That's all I've got.

I agree. It's hard to believe this woman got through college and law school. Maybe she's not dumb, but she is truly a spoiled little princess.

[polabear]

What. The. Fuck. I have never seen anyone more incapable of simple logic that Abigail. Even within the confines of a Jesus-grants-me-his-special-attention mentality, she is off her nut. She prays to god in fear because she has no money to heat the house or buy food for her kids, and she walks out to the car and literally finds money in her mailbox in the form of a gift/interest-free loan from her father. Does Abigail see this as an answer to her prayer? No! She's just being tested and god wants her to pass on the money :doh: What is the point of praying if you're going to refuse to accept the answer to the prayer?

And her husband is no better:

YOUR CHILDREN DO NOT DESERVE TO BE COLD AND HUNGRY FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR PRIDE, YOU IGNORANT JACKASS. If you want to be responsible for paying your family's bills, then quit putting incompetent Abigail in charge of the finances and actually pay them. These people make me RAGE.

I feel for her husband from this quote, just in if she's spending money hand over fist, I could see him wanting her to cut off using the dad's money. Especially if they do have enough to live on. It might have been a way to try and get her to stop spending like a crazy person.

[lilwriter85]

She doesn't seem very contemplative for being a "transitioning Third Order Carmelite." She sounds very ill prepared to run a family of 5. That's the money mismanagement I pulled in college and even now to some extent. However, I fully realize I need more budgeting experience and have decided on raising a dog instead of 5 kids while I learn. Has anybody read the whole blog? How new to Catholicism is she?

I haven't read the whole blog, but she blogged about going to Mass the day of the 9/11 attacks. I think she was still a newlywed at the point. My guess is that she converted before marriage or maybe right after.

[divadivine]

Dear Abigail,

Get off the Cross, we need the wood...(to burn in your fireplace to keep your kids warm because you spent your grocery money on McDonalds and some wallhanging from Hobby Lobby.)

Peace and Blessings,

God

[Koala]

I love being poor because it makes me FREE.

Again, you are not poor. Poor you are not. As you are picking out wall art at Hobby Lobby, and swinging through the McDonald's drive thru, and you and your husband are playing your violin and cello in your newly decorated kitchen, please remember that.

Many people in America have a sick relationship to "stuff."

Around January 15, when Jon got paid--we made up a new budget. We could pay the new higher health insurance premium. We were going to get leaner with grocery budget. Gas for the van was rationed to basically non-exisitant, and fast food runs were banned, and pay-out of the children's allowances were suspended for the rest of the month. The rest of the bonus money was going to pay down the credit card balance that got hyped up over Christmas.

Then I got in my mini-van, with my five kids and went to two different Lowe's stores in two different states. I bought $11 of McDonald's hamburgers with my own money to feed my hungry kids. I spent $190 buying new heaters. I even went to Hobby Lobby for the first time for a victory dance (gotta support the HHS Mandate marytrs!) Hobby Lobby was amazing. My daughter picked out a picture that said "Jesus Loves Me This I Know" in purple cursive letters. It was on clearance for $13.

Yes, some people have a sick relationship with "stuff". :roll:

(Sometimes I feel like donations of clothing and baby stuff are the most popular offer. Danya said when she announced a new pregnancy she could quote "hear the dump trucks backing in in the back yard." I feel that way too. Yet baby stuff by the fifth kid is virtually not needed. Clothes are also the hardest thing. All of my kids are artistic and individual. They are picky. They've got strong likes and dislikes. It's rare to find someone who is bigger than your kid who has the same taste.)

This all goes back to: YOU ARE NOT POOR. YOU ARE NOT LIVING IN POVERTY. A poor person would be grateful for the donations, not bitching about them to the internet. Their children wouldn't have the option of having artsy clothing or being picky.

Hell, I have money (I'm far from rich, but I realize that we are very lucky) and all of the moms I know swap clothes back and forth, especially for babies. Older kids do tend to like to pick their own things and that's fine if you can afford it, but if we couldn't I would just say, "sorry honey, that's not a need and we have to be grateful for what we're offered". I mean come on...

[lilwriter85]

I feel for her husband from this quote, just in if she's spending money hand over fist, I could see him wanting her to cut off using the dad's money. Especially if they do have enough to live on. It might have been a way to try and get her to stop spending like a crazy person.

I can maybe see her husband doing that. But didn't he also encourage her to rent a cello and take fencing lessons?

[formergothardite]

Wow. They are just really, really bad with money.

[tanksmom]

Wow, just wow. Umm..a few points if you read here. You are not really poor, your pseudo poor. You're broke because you can't stop spending money on stupid shit, not because you don't have enough money coming in.

You claim to be religious so follow the teachings. Take care of your children first. That includes (but not limited to) heat, clothing and good food. Stop spending money on yourself and shortchanging your children. You choose to spend money on yourself for while shortchanging your children. STOP! If you can't stop then get help. The gifts of money can dry up and then you will understand what it's like to be poor. Being poor is much worse then having to give up your cello rental. Truly being poor is making the choice between eating or giving the food to your children. Take it from people who have been there, starving because you have literally no money sucks. It's not spiritual, it's not enlightening, it just flat out sucks. :x

[Closed Womb]

Has she taken some sort of vow of poverty? Maybe she just likes to pretend that she has, since she likes to pretend she's a nun.

It's time for her to take off her hair shirt and raise the children they brought into the world. She can enjoy her fake vow of poverty after they're out of the house.

[Koala]

Has she taken some sort of vow of poverty? Maybe she just likes to pretend that she has, since she likes to pretend she's a nun.

It's time for her to take off her hair shirt and raise the children they brought into the world. She can enjoy her fake vow of poverty after they're out of the house.

If she has taken a vow of poverty, I'm pretty sure she's doing it wrong.

[samurai_sarah]

But...but...all of you don't understand! She needs to be poor, because Jesus and the RCC love the poor best, so to be a super speshul snowflake, she has to be poor!!!11!

*tucks the rosaries away again* Sorry, my Catholic childhood caught up with me for a moment. The tradition in which I grew up in had a total fetish for poverty. We got fed all these stories about suffering and poverty, and how Jesus loves them best. Stories about saints who gave everything away, and then got martyred for their troubles. And poor people still giving to the church (which means more to Baby Jesus than donations coming from rich people). So yeah, I ended up with the idea that you have to be poor and suffering to be truly virtuous, because then Jesus promotes you straight to heaven, when you die, where...ahem, everything gets better...yeah, it didn't make sense to me either.

Abigail sounds to me, like she's really bought into that sort of thinking, and really wants to be a martyr for her faith. Newsflash Abigail: Self-inflicted suffering doesn't count any more. They altered the rules on that a bit, so if canonisation is your ultimate aim, you're doing it wrong. Also, if I recall correctly, there is that bit in the Bible, in which Jesus is all about children. In other words, don't make them suffer for your delusions! Take a leaf out of "Mommy Mary's" book - she packed up the husband and the kiddo, and moved them to Egypt to keep said kid safe. I suggest you start with feeding your children adequately instead. :evil:

ETA: What ClosedWomb said.

[Phoebe]

I doubt she'll respond, but here's the comment I left: Fellow Catholic here, and my, it *was* cold, wasn't it? That said, the $24 you blew through buying junk food and a decorative but ultimately unnecessary item could have bought a good chunk of groceries...and a couple of Little Caesar's pizzas ($5 each) as a junk food splurge if one insisted on going that route.

Poverty is challenging, but money mismanagement when one lives in poverty is a misuse of the resources God gives you and is a slap in His face.

Her hubris is astounding.

[mockingbird]

Sorry, my Catholic childhood caught up with me for a moment. The tradition in which I grew up in had a total fetish for poverty. We got fed all these stories about suffering and poverty, and how Jesus loves them best. Stories about saints who gave everything away, and then got martyred for their troubles. And poor people still giving to the church (which means more to Baby Jesus than donations coming from rich people). So yeah, I ended up with the idea that you have to be poor and suffering to be truly virtuous, because then Jesus promotes you straight to heaven, when you die, where...ahem, everything gets better...yeah, it didn't make sense to me either.

Ah, so true! I remember feeling so guilty as a kid because we would be asked if we would give up everything we had to follow Jesus, like the Apostles. I liked my toys too much. LOL

And my understanding of the vow of poverty is that you don't necessarily have to live in abject poverty. It just means you don't live beyond what you absolutely need... because you have to be able to survive and function to serve the church. The priests in my parish growing up did take a vow of poverty. They did home visits, so they needed cars. They would get a decent compact car, maybe slightly used, but not so beat up that they were going to have to replace it right away. I think for awhile they just had one car between them (we usually have between 2-3 priests at our church), not sure about now. (ETA: They also had limitations on using the car, especially for personal use. If it was cheaper and possible to take public transportation, they would do that instead.) They would have only wardrobe essentials, nothing fancy or extra. They had a small budget every year for fun money. If asked, they would say they preferred gifts like a donation, prayer, or something they could share with the others (like a bottle of wine or a gift card) because otherwise it might interfere with their vows. I went to a Jesuit college and they do not take a vow of poverty. I was shocked that a lot of the priests had Cadillacs and iPhones!

[Sumeri]

WHY are so many of these fundie mommies clueless when it comes to cooking? They do it all day! With the 13 bucks she blew on that crappy Hobby Lobby sign she could have bought dried beans, some veggies, rice...and fed all those kids. What the hell?

She probably thinks her father owes her his credit card on account of putting her in that evil, abusive day care.

[NurseNell]

She reminds me of so many other converts to Catholicism, they want to be more Catholic then the Pope. They try to outdo each other in being holy and embracing the Church.