How was money handled in your family when you were growing up? Were your parents savers or spenders? What are examples of ways they saved or splurged? Who paid the bills? What, if anything, did they teach you about money? Did you have an allowance? Whether received as an allowance or through other means such as gifts, when you had your "own" money, were there restrictions on how you spent it? Were you paid for making certain grades on your report card? Did your parents tithe or give money to the church on a regular basis? What about other charities? How old were you when you got your first checking account or credit card? How has the way you were raised impacted your handling of financial issues today?
Money in my house is an open subject, Mom thinks it might be too open, because we do talk about bills and we know when we don't have the money to buy that extra pair of shoes, but yet they still do. It's a good thing in my eyes, especially since I opened up my checking account I know how to balence it, and I'm not spending my money like it grows on trees! Mom is the one who balances the family checkbook and pays the bills, Dad's a little senseless when it comes to money and what we have in the bank account, so we joke, Mom can't die because we wouldn't know how to pay the bills and everything, which I'm slowly attempting to learn especially since I'll be off on my own in a short time! I used to have an allowence of $2 for a clean room and accomplishing all of my chores, I never liked the whole fact of that and I tried to get my allowence raised, but Mom never did. I've had a bank account since I was in 1st grade with school banking, and I didn't start opening account until I was about 12/13 when I had a Mommy's Little Helper job and was raking in the dough! I actually opened up two or three CDs (Certificate of Depostits) which were $500 each, there is now two with a lot more in them, and they continue to grow! I actually closed out my stock, because it never made much money in 13 years and I'm still looking into investing into a stock. I just opened up my checking account a month after I got my job up here in MA, and with that I got a debit card.
Since getting a job, I've realized how much money I really get, since I have taxes and then I need to tithe, and pay my bills! I never realized how much is taken out of one little pay check! Mom and Dad both tithe to the church in MA, and I tithe to the church once in a while, I try to donate money to as many charities that I believe in, for example Girl Scouts, the church, Animal Haven, LINKS, etc. I actually can't wait until I'm off on my own, because that's when everything will test how much I've actually learned and if I can handle it, and worse comes to worst if I ever need help Mom's always there to give me a helping hand!
If you enjoyed this weeks
Cae
3 comments:
It's interesting to read the flashback of you younger girls who are on the brink of independence!
Living on your own can definitely test your money management skills! I find that the hardest part is remembering to put away money for those irregular bills--biannual car insurance, annual registration, and the like.
Good for you for investing--I really wish I'd done more of that when I was a teen--back before I had so many bills to pay!
As you said, mom is always there to lend a hand if you need it; but somehow, I don't think you will ; )
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