No, I'm just the child of a Depression child. A daughter of the Greatest Generation. Daddy had a paper route as a boy and unlike most of his peers, he had money to buy model airplanes, and the GI bill after serving during WWII to pay for his college.
Take advantage of programs that can help you build a better future.
Mother was the youngest by ten years in her family, and being one to dress nicely - she was from Atlanta after all, she was savvy enough to iron for her sisters and used the money to buy dresses that she would keep pressed and looking nice, and would rent them to her sisters for fifteen cents a wearing. She knew the value of a dime.
Figure out creative ways to earn money. Save up to buy nice things that will last longer.
We did extra chores each week - vacuum the cars, sweep the patio/carport or wash it down. We rotated. For that we earned a very hefty one dollar. I learned how to complain early. Being the firstborn, I felt it was my sovereign right. The movies cost $3.00, which meant it took three weeks to save up for one ticket and by then the movie was gone! Plus I liked to buy 45 records, and they cost $0.75 leaving me with an extra week to save for a movie; it was so terribly unfair. He did expand our opportunities to earn more, $4 for cutting the grass - fifty cents per side and $1.50 each for the front and the back.
If you want money, you'll have to work for it. If you want something, you have to save for it.
Daddy's frugality (he didn't like for us to call him a cheapskate or tightwad, the word was 'frugal') was notorious and part of the reason for their brief divorce. When they remarried the contract they agreed upon was that Mother would get a portion of his salary to spend as she chose, after she paid the bills they agreed were her responsibility. We kids knew all about that.
It's not fair to dictate how others spend their money.
What did she do with the little extra money she was now able to put aside? She invested in the stock market of course. Her success in the market, which for the relatively small amount she had wasn't much, was a bone of contention. Apparently she had a little higher growth rate than Daddy did. I do believe she was quite proud of that fact. She left me and my siblings the stocks when she died. I didn't want that money though, I wanted her. I didn't touch it for years, just let it grow in her investments, and boy did it grow.
Researching and investing wisely in the stock market can increase your wealth; sometimes it's best to let investments sit and grow.
That money grew the most when I decided to do something with it. I decided that I would only use it for others, not for myself. Call it timing if you want, but I call it getting back what you give. By the time I found myself on my own, even though I had given away 100% of its original worth, I was left with enough to finish my master's AND put a 20% down payment on this home.
"...give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
I never understood why we couldn't join the country club like all the other kids who lived in my neighborhood. We had to go to the public pool, well, later it was a nice water park that featured one of the very first wave pools in the US, and we swam every day during the summer so it wasn't SO bad. I wasn't about to tell Daddy that!
It's not about appearances, it's about getting the same or better outcome with a better value.
In seventh grade I asked Mother about those girls I envied who dressed in new outfits all the time, nice ones, from the upscale department store in town - believe me, I noticed, didn't we all at 13? Well Mother said that a lot of those families would have debt because they would spend too much on things, and, "We don't live that way. We only buy what we can afford." That was a real eye-opener for me; I had no idea.
Only buy what you can pay for.
New cars? Never! How embarrassing. Everyone else's family drove new cars. Daddy said, "Why buy new when it loses value the instant you drive it off the lot?!" I think they did it because they got tired of me using their cars to go to work all the time, but my parent's excuse was that since I had gotten into the Honor Society my they were going to give me some money towards a car of my own. I also had to use my savings ($150), and I was responsible for all of the upkeep. Daddy even showed me how to change the spark plugs. I loved that car and I took good care of it; it sold for the same purchase price five years later.
Take good care of expensive items and you can recover more money when you sell.
For college, we got a very generous eight thousand dollars up front - spend it wisely, honey. My freshman year I wrote two checks for $1500 for each semester at a private college and quickly did the math. I transferred to a nearby state school, $280/quarter and started with the coop program working full time every other semester.
If you can't afford something, make alternate plans.
When I got my first 'real' job after college I couldn't wait go to buy my first brand new car. I wasn't going to mess around with a lame used car. Daddy even went with me to pick out that Volvo I had dreamed about. Guess what? His value became mine and I bought a four year old 'new to me' car.
Buying used is a great way to save a lot of money. Nothing like reality to drive home the lesson that parents usually know what they're talking about.
In other words, money was a hot topic in my family of origin and those lessons have helped me get to where I am now. How did your upbringing impact the way you use money?
as T would say: "that's my favorite"....:) aunt ho....
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