My first real memory of money came about when I was about 10 years old. My sister and I had begged my parents to start giving us an allowance and we were required to save half for our future education. The other half was ours to spend as we saw fit. My sister never had any of her disposable money left at the end of the week, but I often didn’t find anything of value to spend my money on. This was a huge help to me when my Dad proposed that my sister and I each buy a camera. At the time, digital cameras were a far off dream, and we had our eyes on $80 35mm cameras. The deal was simple, if my sister and I could each save half of the cost of a camera, my parents would pay for the other half. Despite our different opinions on money, my sister and I saved diligently. That was the first time that I had the feeling of having “earned” something. I had to forgo some wants, but in the end I had something of value to hold in my hands. In the future, I would set many more goals, saving to achieve them in the short, medium, and long term. This basic lesson, one that entire generations seem to have forgotten or choose to ignore, has served me well ever since. At its core, we all need to decide what is important to us, and what we’re willing to do to achieve these goals. Often this means giving up something, or working more or harder to earn the money we need. Occasionally, this might even mean borrowing money today in order to accomplish our goals, and paying for it later. All of these decisions have consequences, and must be carefully weighed.
Sunday, 9 October 2016
Young Money
I grew up in a single income household with parents who’ve told me many times over the years that they weren’t smart with their money early in life. My sister and I grew up with all of the basics, and my parents watched the pennies in order to give us the chance to experience a lot of great opportunities growing up. I never felt like I was deprived of anything, but myself sister will gladly disagree with me on that point.
My first real memory of money came about when I was about 10 years old. My sister and I had begged my parents to start giving us an allowance and we were required to save half for our future education. The other half was ours to spend as we saw fit. My sister never had any of her disposable money left at the end of the week, but I often didn’t find anything of value to spend my money on. This was a huge help to me when my Dad proposed that my sister and I each buy a camera. At the time, digital cameras were a far off dream, and we had our eyes on $80 35mm cameras. The deal was simple, if my sister and I could each save half of the cost of a camera, my parents would pay for the other half. Despite our different opinions on money, my sister and I saved diligently. That was the first time that I had the feeling of having “earned” something. I had to forgo some wants, but in the end I had something of value to hold in my hands. In the future, I would set many more goals, saving to achieve them in the short, medium, and long term. This basic lesson, one that entire generations seem to have forgotten or choose to ignore, has served me well ever since. At its core, we all need to decide what is important to us, and what we’re willing to do to achieve these goals. Often this means giving up something, or working more or harder to earn the money we need. Occasionally, this might even mean borrowing money today in order to accomplish our goals, and paying for it later. All of these decisions have consequences, and must be carefully weighed.
My first real memory of money came about when I was about 10 years old. My sister and I had begged my parents to start giving us an allowance and we were required to save half for our future education. The other half was ours to spend as we saw fit. My sister never had any of her disposable money left at the end of the week, but I often didn’t find anything of value to spend my money on. This was a huge help to me when my Dad proposed that my sister and I each buy a camera. At the time, digital cameras were a far off dream, and we had our eyes on $80 35mm cameras. The deal was simple, if my sister and I could each save half of the cost of a camera, my parents would pay for the other half. Despite our different opinions on money, my sister and I saved diligently. That was the first time that I had the feeling of having “earned” something. I had to forgo some wants, but in the end I had something of value to hold in my hands. In the future, I would set many more goals, saving to achieve them in the short, medium, and long term. This basic lesson, one that entire generations seem to have forgotten or choose to ignore, has served me well ever since. At its core, we all need to decide what is important to us, and what we’re willing to do to achieve these goals. Often this means giving up something, or working more or harder to earn the money we need. Occasionally, this might even mean borrowing money today in order to accomplish our goals, and paying for it later. All of these decisions have consequences, and must be carefully weighed.
