Mother June Shannon Banking on Honey Boo Boo's Future

The matriarch of TLC'S hit is proving to be a shrewd financial manager.

ByABC News
January 7, 2013, 7:00 AM

Jan. 7, 2013 — -- June Shannon, the matriarch of TLC'S hit "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" is proving to be a shrewd financial manager, having recently announced that she is divvying up the income from the blockbuster show into trust funds for her four daughters.

The series, which follows the life of child beauty queen "Honey Boo Boo" and her family, returned Sunday night with a special "holla" day episode, and a newly blonde-haired Mamma June.

The Georgia mom has now told TMZ that the reported $20,000 that the family earns for each episode of the "Toddlers and Tiaras" spinoff is being split into trust funds for her four daughters -- money the girls can't touch "until they turn 21," except to pay for school.

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The self proclaimed coupon queen said that she is "never going to live above [her] means."

"I don't want, 10 years down the road, Alana or any of the other kids to be thinking, 'Oh my God I have nothing to show for it,'" Shannon recently told talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.

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Michael Schneider, Los Angeles bureau chief for TV Guide, agrees with her strategy.

"These shows don't last forever," he told ABC News."They are being smart with the money, or investing, or holding onto it for a rainy day."

While 7-year-old Alana, who is now internationally known as "Honey Boo Boo Child," may "holla" for a "dolla," Shannon says she wants keep her family grounded -- something she even professed on the show at one point saying, "we budget and try to save money any way we can."

The family's biggest purchase since Hollywood came knocking was a 2005 Ford Expedition.

"As a mom I try to teach my girls good habits," Shannon said on one episode.

It's those habits, combined with this family's unconventional love, that keeps 2.4 million viewers tuning in to watch.

"It is a real, nuclear family," Schneider said. "There is something really heartening about this show. You come for the train wreck, but you stay for the heart."