Chris has previously shit the moneybed previously with credit cards and that is pretty counter to that first sentence unless if you are arguing that Chris has matured enough to handle budgeting enough to run a rough ledger, I would like to hope so.
I'm under the impression that Chris' cards are maxed out. When he frees up credit, he spends it. However, he does not acquire new cards and he pays his minimums. He's been maintaining this status quo for a long time. I don't believe Chris has "matured" financially. I believe Chris has always had the capacity for budgeting. He just never had any reason to.
But when Bob died, Barb didn't step up to the plate. No, she just screamed at Chris to step up to the plate.
Chris has done a pretty decent job of that, all things considered. He's not bright and he's not particularly good at it. He fucks up a few times a year. But a few weeks later, the tugboat comes in and he manages to pay the late bill, hopefully if Barb leaves him enough money.
Despite what some people think Chris is very much aware of concrete facts like "if I don't pay my bill, they will cut off my internet/electricity/sue me". Chris is incredibly pissed at the world that he's forced to budget. But nevertheless, he does it adequately.
But I see it as a pretty significant departure from Chris's previous behavior in the past, I do not wish to be rude however I have trouble suspending my disbelief, do you have any proof?
I would caution you against taking the cwcki at face value. While we do a good job of not explicitly lying about things, our focus is not the objective truth. We write about what's most funny. A line I use a lot is, is "no one wants to hear about the time Chris went to the game store and DIDN'T pepper spray anyone".
When we talk about Chris' financial fuckups, they certainly did happen. But we don't bother leaking all the details about how Chris
isn't fucking up, or how he spent his money responsibly. Because that's boring and no one gives a shit. You should read the cwcki critically and realize we don't document everything about Chris.
I don't have any concrete proof. I'm merely privy to lots of unreleased information. You'll just have to trust me (or not).
Barb's debt is huge compared to Chris'. Like a few thousand dollars worth of credit card debt. They get hassled by debt collectors a lot because of her. No one cares about Chris' debt because, again, he pays the minimums.
I agree absolutely, it's that I have difficulty believing that Chris's finances will be able to handle saving up for such things. You or I could budget for such things but I would think that bills and the costs from usual accidents that life hands you would make it very difficult for Chris to buoy a healthy savings account that could be able to absorb things like the cost of a PS4. If it isn't a inability to handle expenses, I am also trying to argue that the thinning margins between Chris SSDI check and cost of living make it very difficult for Chris to handle purchases like that. Or that is what I think, please refute if otherwise.
Ah, but Chris did save up for something like that in the past.
When Chris busted up the PS3 the first time, he was in shock at first. But when that wore off, he moved fucking mountains to get a new PS3. He saved money, he scrimped and saved and he pawned some of his shit.
Chris has the excess money to buy expensively priced things all the time. I can't remember if it was 2014 or 2015, but there was a time where he bought like $1-2k worth of legos over the course of a month or two. He did it. He stretched some of his credit, and gradually paid it off, and no one was the wiser. (I think we saw this in his ebay purchases.)
Chris simply doesn't want to buy the PS4 unless he absolutely has to. He was mopey during his birthday and no one paid him any attention (in the form of expensively priced electronics).
Now, of course, when Barb kicks it, the dynamics of the whole situation will flip upside down. I think Chris will have much less money overall (having to pay for rent), but he'll be able to budget better. Barb snatches his money at will whenever she wants. Barb is the biggest reason Chris has any trouble budgeting.
He'll be very miserable about not being able to live like he used to. But his life will be a lot more stable and predictable when he knows Barb won't suddenly demand $500 for a creditor who's hassling her about the minifridge she insisted on buying six months ago.