Itās hard out here. The cost of basic goods continues to rise. Jobs arenāt as plentiful as they once were. And many parents are lacking the support they need to comfortably raise their children. Itās a reality for lots of families.
Although people typically use social media to share the more happy or aspirational aspects of their lives, one mother used a recent incident at Dollar Tree to show just how dire things have gotten for her as she tries to mother and feed two small children, literally pinching pennies.
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The mom shared that she ran out of money before she bought food for her daughters.
Shayla Fenley of Lufkin, Texas, is a single mother who shared a TikTok video of her buying milk and bananas for her 16-month old twin girls, Leah and Lehlani. What made the video compelling, attracting nearly 2 million views, is the fact that Finley used pennies to pay for the items, Newsweek reported.
āNever in my life would I have thought that I would be penny pinching,ā the 22-year-old says at the start of the video. āBut I have to go get my girls some milk and Iām completely out of money.ā
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Fenley said the whole thing was a little embarrassing.
The milk cost $2.90 and the pack of bananas cost $2. Fenley shared that she was kind of nervous to check out. When she did get to the register, she set up her camera and opened her purse and unloaded bags of pennies onto the counter. Fenley sped up the video 10 times to fit the seven-minute transaction into the video.
After the cashier finishes counting, Fenley thanks him before saying the exchange was āa little embarrassing.ā The cashier assures her that things happen.
Fenley said she didn't want to bother anyone for money.
When she got out of the store, Fenley declares that she learned that kindness still exists in the world. āI canāt wait til Iām rich one day so that I never have to do that again,ā she says. In the caption of the video, Fenley wrote, āMoms will do anything to make sure their babies donāt go without.ā
Fenley, who sells nail sets on TikTok, also uses her platform to document her ups and downs as a single mother. This recent video came after Fenley spent her last $20 on diapers and wipes. Afterward, she realized that she still needed to buy milk.
“After I spent that $20 I only had pennies left over,” she told Newsweek. “I could hardly sleep that night because I was stressed about how I would afford their milk the next day.” Eventually, she settled on using the pennies from a jar.
“I didn’t want to bother anyone for money, so I decided to use the pennies I had been saving for hard times,” she said. “The coin exchange was too far away, and I didn’t have a car at the time. So I had to go to the store with all I had.”
Now, Fenley is manifesting more financial security for herself and her children.
Even though the exchange was awkward, Fenley ultimately was proud of herself for doing what she needed to do. “In the moment I knew that I had to make sure my kids ate. Even if I didn’t … and I felt happy that I was even able to get what they needed. I don’t like stealing, so I’d rather pinch pennies before stealing,” she told the magazine. “As long as they got what they needed, I was happy inside for the moment.”
The decision to record the moment worked out in her favor.
“My TikTok content has been on a constant rise, and my nail sets are selling,” she explained. “I can provide more for my daughters and myself without worrying so much.”
She also launched a GoFundMe account at the request of one of her TikTok followers. Sheās raised $1,887 of her $2,000 goal thus far.
For Fenley, the next step is continuing to sell nail sets, getting her children into a good day care, and attending school to come a nail technician. She believes sheāll make it happen. āLife will only go up from here,” she said. “I manifest that.”
