How much do you think the check was for that Giles gives Buffy in Life Serial?
- Thread starter Merrick
- Start date
TotallySpiked
Slaying
The Thirst Evil
The Un-slept
Wasn't his place in an apartment block? In that case he would have been renting it rather than owning the property. But he also got two years worth of back pay from the council in Season 5, which I imagine would have been quite an enormous check.
Relocation costs probably weren't all that steep. Whether the apartment in Sunnydale was rented or owned, flights back to the UK aren't really all that expensive, not for someone in Giles' situation. Given the house he was shown to be living in and the grounds (ASH's own house and grounds in real life) it's long been thought that Giles comes from old money. Either from his mother's side or from Edna, his grandmother. Her speech patterns suggest she went to public (private) school, which would have cost her family money, meaning they had money to be spending on a private education for her before she entered the Watcher's Academy.
If the grounds and house didn't belong to Giles, it's reasonable to assume that they belonged to the Council and that's where Giles was staying, seeing as how he was working for them full time at that point, which would then keep his living costs relatively low, since his rent would probably be subsidized.
And, as [MENTION=8860]The Thirst Evil[/MENTION] said, Giles was paid back a lot of money when he was rehired by the Council in 'Checkpoint', more than two years worth, which would have been a considerable amount of money.
As for how much Giles gave Buffy - I don't think we're talking more than a few thousand dollars, four or five at most, which would have been used to pay off the outstanding bills that were already owed and to pay for the 'full copper repipe'.
Since Buffy had to take a job at The Doublemeat Palace just a few months later to make ends meet, Giles clearly didn't give Buffy enough for her and Dawn to live on for any reasonable length of time.
If the grounds and house didn't belong to Giles, it's reasonable to assume that they belonged to the Council and that's where Giles was staying, seeing as how he was working for them full time at that point, which would then keep his living costs relatively low, since his rent would probably be subsidized.
And, as [MENTION=8860]The Thirst Evil[/MENTION] said, Giles was paid back a lot of money when he was rehired by the Council in 'Checkpoint', more than two years worth, which would have been a considerable amount of money.
As for how much Giles gave Buffy - I don't think we're talking more than a few thousand dollars, four or five at most, which would have been used to pay off the outstanding bills that were already owed and to pay for the 'full copper repipe'.
Since Buffy had to take a job at The Doublemeat Palace just a few months later to make ends meet, Giles clearly didn't give Buffy enough for her and Dawn to live on for any reasonable length of time.
The Council as an entity seems to be built on a lot of old money. Every Watcher we have encountered was very much upper class, I'm sure there were more than a few Sirs, Lords and Dames amongst them. Giles' home (as seen in S9 would) would fetch millions if put on the market now, so I don't think Giles had some serious money at his disposal and I've always assumed it was several thousand dollars that he gave to Buffy.
Then she splashed it all on those leather jackets she was wearing throughout the season, lol, because by 'Doublemeat Palace' she was struggling and needed an income because she couldn't pay the bills.
That's why I always assumed that it was enough to get by for a while but not enough to really live on. Especially considering she was also feeding Willow and Tara at this point.
I agree with your point about the Watchers. In a lot of the novels (the ones set in the 19th Century and earlier, anyway) the Watchers and the people who know about the Slayers and everything associated with them are all Sirs or Lords and the like, sometimes well known names. Like Marie-Antoinette.
Last edited:
M
Merrick
Ha. Leather jackets. brilliant.
I think either theory could work. The way things were presented, Buffy was facing some serious debt. I imagine Giles' money would have helped cover some of the debt but running a home like that and putting a kid through school isn't cheap. Factor in that the Doublemeat Palace would have been a minimum wage job and the cost of living in California, it's easy to see how Buffy was basically hemorrhaging money.
I'd like to know what they were living on from 'As You Were' until whatever ep in S7 Wood hired her as a counselor. Did Willow start coughing up? More cash from Giles? Xander was making a lot by the start of S7, so did he pitch in after Tara died and Willow went loco?
Wood probably fudged something. Maybe he had contacts who were able to provide fake records if any of his higher ups asked about her.
Anya says that, by the time Buffy is resurrected - 3/4 months later - all the money from Joyce's life insurance is gone, so maybe they were using that? And clearly not being careful about it, lol. Joyce's medical bills and her burial might have taken up a large chunk, maybe Buffy used it to pay off what she owed of her student loans, leaving not very much after basic living costs.
Anya says that, by the time Buffy is resurrected - 3/4 months later - all the money from Joyce's life insurance is gone, so maybe they were using that? And clearly not being careful about it, lol. Joyce's medical bills and her burial might have taken up a large chunk, maybe Buffy used it to pay off what she owed of her student loans, leaving not very much after basic living costs.
I'd imagine it'd be quite a lot. I don't know how it works in the states so I might be wrong, but for Buffy to need money so urgently means that the debt would have been quite large and the bank/hydro/other bills were asking for the money ASAP.
This leads me to think that Giles gave her in the low 5 figures, maybe 10-20k. This would have been enough to repay the debts and then she'd still have to work for her living expenses. I think anything lower than 10k wouldn't have done much to be honest, a family of 4 living without a reliable job would use that much extremely quickly.
This leads me to think that Giles gave her in the low 5 figures, maybe 10-20k. This would have been enough to repay the debts and then she'd still have to work for her living expenses. I think anything lower than 10k wouldn't have done much to be honest, a family of 4 living without a reliable job would use that much extremely quickly.
white avenger
white avenger
Buffy was hired by Wood personally, so there wouldn't have been any approval or qualifications required beyond his authority. And since I got the impression that he pretty much bluffed his way into his own job, I doubt that he would have been a stickler for credentials, even if he didn't have the ulterior motive of getting to know the resident Slayer.
As for Willow and Tara supporting dawn before Buffy was resurrected, Giles was there all summer, only leaving the day before Willow preformed the ceremony, so almost certainly, he paid all the bills. When Buffy was informed that she was basically broke, I thought that that was from paying Joyce's accumulated medical expenses, not from anything that anyone spent over the summer.
Maybe they found The Trio's lair and there was still serious dolla left over from the bank robbery!😎
white avenger
white avenger
The sum, "$25,000" pops into my head for some reason, though I have no idea where it came from. Whatever it was, I'm quite sure that, Watchers' salary or not, Giles could well afford it without putting himself in any sort of financial strain. He always struck me as old money just slumming as a school librarian, and the Magic Shop was more of a profitable hobby that a needed source of income.
If that's true, then what the hell did Buffy do with the money.
I thought the actual amount was never revealed, we were just led to believe it was a significant amount, and seeing that Giles seemed to leave Faith with enough money/property to live without working or worrying about money in season 9, then I'd say he was pretty well-off.
Anya2012
Floppy, hoppy, bunnies!
Willow and Tara should have paid rent and their half of the bills. They could have helped with the financial side of things.
white avenger
white avenger
Given the cost of living, even back when the show was on, it that's all that Giles gave Buffy, I really can't see why she was saying that it was "too much." Sure, it's a sizable amount of money, but, considering the normal expenses of running a household consisting of three adults and one adolescent, plus the extensive plumbing work that was necessary, where (apparently) there was no other source of income, that wouldn't have lasted more than a few months.
Of course, it could be argued that Buffy, with her little to no experience in running a household, would have no idea of what kind of expenses she was going to have to deal with.