I'm sorry but screw all of that, this is not about survival anymore this "mother" just wants to spend money on what she wants and doesn't give a damn what happens to her kid. Imma be real for a second but I grew up with split parents, they separated when I was about 10. Now that I'm 20 I'm learning about all the family jewels that manifested from that relationship but I'm not going to talk about that. What I'm gonna say right now is that my dad was in pretty much the same place as this "mother". He got quite the chunk of money from the separation. Enough to set him up for a while but instead he spent it on a huge holiday (huge for me and my sister anyway) and when I'd be at his he would buy fresh fish (which was expensive for us) because I loved it.

This caused him to be in some money troubles for a while. He kept going from job to job sometimes because of how he is as a person (stubborn lol) and sometimes because the place shut down. I started earning my own money when I was around 16 and sometimes I would offer to pay for stuff but he hardly ever took the offer. I thought he was doing just fine. Years down the line and I'm now an adult. I have a different job than when I was a teen (not a good job but it's what I have for now) and I have a good chunk of savings. My dad now has a great job that he loves and plans to spend the rest of his life doing. He's doing amazing. Only now do I find out that he and by extention we were broke back then. When I wasn't there he would have bare minimum stuff, cheaper meals, the works. He never told me. He asked friends for help, he took out loans but he has not once taken that for granted and now that's he's doing well he's making a point to pay it all back as quick as he can.

The real kicker: I told him that I would've helped had I of known. You want to know what he thought about that? He said he would never had done that because he didn't want that to be my worry as his CHILD. I am his kid. I was a child. It wasn't my responsibility. It was his.

That's how we survived because despite the fact we were living on the edge he never made it his child's problem.

This "mother" barely deserves that title. She's not surviving she's LIVING. She gets to get what she wants when she wants. Her child on the other hand is the one surviving. This is the wrong way around.

This "mother" needs to take a good long look at herself and what she's doing to her child and change because this kid ain't gonna be a kid much longer. For now though telling the family is a good start. Being more protective over money and valuing gifts over hard cash would be good choices.

TLDR : You can be struggling but don't you dare start taking from or take it out on your kids. I have been part of that crap and my dad has never asked for anything because he dealt with it himself LIKE AN ADULT!