Growing up, I never thought my parents were very good with money. Sometimes they had to “borrow” money from me when I was in high school to help pay some of the bills (I think that’s usually called rent), but I realize now that a lot of that was probably because they were spending more than they should have on my sister and me for things that we wanted but didn’t really need. Really, they just wanted (and still do) the best for us that they could provide, whether that meant taking on debt or running their bank account on a thin margin. My dad is a blue-collar worker and my mom is a severely underpaid teacher – my job offer out of college was for more than either of them made. Whether how they operated their finances was right or wrong, how could they have been good at money? Neither of them ever had a personal finance class in their lives, even though my mom has a master’s degree, and I’m sure neither of their parents ever taught them much about money. However, I now realize the financial lessons that they taught me that I’ve taken for granted.
Money Jars
Now that I think back on things, I realize that they taught me so much more about money than I ever thought about before. When I was in elementary school, my parents paid my sister and me $3 each per week for things like doing our chores, cleaning our rooms, etc. But, there was a stipulation for the money; both of us had 3 hazy-clear plastic jars with white screw on lids that we were supposed to put it into.
Each of the three jars had a different word written on them by my mom and a doodle that she drew characterizing the word on them: “Rainy Day” with a picture of a rain cloud and rain drops, “Spend” with a picture of a dollar, and “Church” with a picture of a church house (these may not have been the exact words and pictures but it was 20 years ago, alright).
I always wondered why my parents wanted me to have money to spend when it started storming outside (Hint: that’s not the point of the rainy-day jar).
Dividing your budget into these three broad categories can be an easy way to help yourself be successful at cash flow management. Last week I wrote that you may not need an extremely strict budget to be financially successful, but mentally accounting for your money like this could help.
Living On A Little
A few other things that my parents taught me through their actions rather than their words were that you don’t need the nicest things to live a loving and impactful life, an inexpensive house isn’t less of a “home”, cheap, used cars are reliable if you take care of them properly and do the exact same thing as brand-new ones, and not taking your lunch to work every day isn’t normal. Yes, these things were out of necessity rather than choice, but they are extremely valuable financial lessons that anyone can benefit from.
I don’t remember being intentional with my finances until I got to college, but I can’t help to believe that the things that my parents taught me about money at a young age led to my passion for helping others reach their goals through personal finances and to my desire for financial freedom. I feel extremely fortunate that my parents implemented the seemingly small, but also very impactful practice of money jars at such a young age and taught me the other personal finance lessons that I mentioned above.
They’ve probably done more for me financially than they’ve done for themselves over my life, but I hope (and believe) that one day I can give back more to them than they have been gracious enough to give to me. They’re never going to be in style, own a brand-new home or vehicle, or have anything expensive to show off for social media, but that doesn’t really matter because I truly believe that they’re two of the greatest people that I know and I think many others would agree.
What did your parents or guardians teach you about money?
