I have always been taught, from as far back as I can remember, how to take care of money. In fact, one of my most fondest memories is of the ceramic piggie bank my dad gave to me one year when I was a little girl(he said I was always really good at saving my money). From an early age I gave 10% of any money that I had to the Church for tithing. My parents also opened up a savings account for each of their girls when we were younger to teach us the value of saving money. I received money for my report cards: so much for an A & B, nothing for a C, and if we got D's or F's, we had to pay our parents (luckily that never happened!). I remember I would always be so excited when report cards came around because I would always have such good grades, then I would promptly go to the store and look at cacti....yes, as in plural cactus. For some really weird reason, I loved cacti. Every time I had money I asked my mom to take me to the store so I could by another cactus. Weird, I know (hilarious now that I look back on it!). To sum up, we were definitely taught the value of money from an early age.
Once I turned 15, I got my first job and started saving any money I earned. Once I turned 16, I got my driver's license and then spent the money I earned on things like gasoline (a few clothes here and there, but I was never much of a material girl). Once I turned 18, I was off to college. By this time I had quite a bit of money saved up.....and as soon as I was out of the roost, my spending habits took a drastic change and I felt the need to spend my money on everything and anything that looked good to me (hair dye, clothes, food, shoes, car accessories, you get the idea....). Since then, money and I have had our ups and downs, but I am definitely the one with the budgeting skills in our family.
I think its time we heard from my dear hubby on the matter.......
Once I turned 15, I got my first job and started saving any money I earned. Once I turned 16, I got my driver's license and then spent the money I earned on things like gasoline (a few clothes here and there, but I was never much of a material girl). Once I turned 18, I was off to college. By this time I had quite a bit of money saved up.....and as soon as I was out of the roost, my spending habits took a drastic change and I felt the need to spend my money on everything and anything that looked good to me (hair dye, clothes, food, shoes, car accessories, you get the idea....). Since then, money and I have had our ups and downs, but I am definitely the one with the budgeting skills in our family.
I think its time we heard from my dear hubby on the matter.......
Growing up I had a very skewed concept of Money. My parents were extremely generous and for this I am grateful. My mother would often give us dollar bills here or there to spend on school lunch or whatever we could scrounge at the local market.
As my siblings and I became adolescents and teenagers I do not remember ever having the talk about how to balance a paycheck.... Never mind my wife just corrected me and its actually called a checkbook. Case and point, I learned to manage money the hard way.
I probably didn't get much sympathy in terms of watching every last penny I earned go to 'God knows what' because I didn't even have a decent job until I was 18, and even then I was quite the naive slacker. When I moved away from home I learned real quick that if you don't manage your money other people will manage it for you. Although I was convinced that my naivety would somehow miraculously play itself out It never did and I was poor.
So lesson learned: If your poor get married and convince your spouse to be your personal accountant. Although the traditionalists will question your masculinity take pride in knowing that at least your dollar is going to a good cause: Family.
