The kid continues to have a spiritual growth spurt and has matured a great deal due to surviving such an ugly car crash last month.

It's affected our relationship in a positive way. As a result of this, I've had more meaningful conversations and emails with him. I've expressed over and over how extremely grateful I am that he survived this crash and that he was ok. I found out that until this happened, he didn't seem to think that I cared one way or another about his wrecklessness or about what happens to him. How did we get to that point?? That says sad, sad things about our prior relationship, but I did read the Five Languages of Love (I believe that's the title, recommended by a fellow saver) and can see what I could have done differently. Anyway, I'm incredibly grateful that we both got a second chance.

This crash has also affected my budget. We lost a car which cost me $3500 and with only liability coverage there was no pay-out for it. We received $255 from the wrecker (who'll use it for parts). We're adding that $255 to the car fund as a start, since I (nor he) had no plan for replacing a car so soon.

The kid's looking into getting a job that he can walk to. He handed over his debit card when I asked for it (the week before the crash in September, he had $75 in overdraft charges). He's now only using cash, but a lot less of it, since he's without a car and on foot.

Without his car, the gas for it and the insurance are no longer needed. The insurance premium is about $550 lower (we had to cancel the insurance we'd just set up for him on his own and put him back on our insurance as a driver). He's also eating in the cafeteria rather than at every drive-through that's near campus.

His goal is to get by without a car until summer. He's hoping to save money to purchase one. So much has changed. I'm still so incredibly grateful.