Originally Posted by saved4always:
Sounds to me like you are not in a position financially to help her out. I would try making it clear to her that, in the future, please do not ask you to hold checks or wait for payment. This is a business and you need to be paid. If you don't have a policy, make one now and put it in your contract and/or parent handbook about when you expect payment. To me, if you ar requiring payment on a certain day, that means you have access to that money when you get paid. I do not have the greatest backbone but my two pet peeve areas where I allowed little to no slack is payment and picking up on time. I insisted on being paid on time and that I did not have kids past my end time (I would do a favor once in a while but I was rarely asked since I was so clear that my family time started at 4 pm and it was a big deal if I had to give it up....ever 
).
I'm broke as all heck and have a hard time making ends meet while running a daycare. Hopefully the people I meet on a daily basis don't judge me for having an iPhone (Christmas/birthday preset), my "fancy" hardly worn clothes (hand me downs from my corporate working sister), my kids leap pads (gifts from wealthy grandparents), the nice furniture and big tv (inherited from grandfather), and my childrens brand name clothes (more presents).
Unless a DCP is buying those things *instead* of paying you then it really is none of your buisness why they have those nice things.