I can’t remember not being taught the value of a dollar. What it could buy. How to stretch it. How to save it. How to spend it.
When I was little, I remember my grandmother would take my sister and me to the local 5 & dime (yes we had those when I was little). She would let us pick out some kind of candy that cost at or below a certain dollar amount. Dad would do the same thing with us. This helped to teach us what we could have for the allowable amount. I also remember selling Christmas cards and gift wrap around the holidays. Depending on how much I sold in cards, I would get a prize or cash. With that money, Mom and Dad usually allowed me to buy what I wanted in regards to toys or candy. While I was allowed to spend the money for whatever I wanted, I learned that just because I had made 20 bucks, it didn’t mean I had to spend it all at once. What if I wanted something else in the coming months? I knew once my 20 was gone, it was gone. Did I need it or want it now? How much did I really want or need it?
I was almost 15 and I wanted to make my own money. At my request, my parents signed for me to have a work permit. With that money I could buy CDs, go to the movies, and buy clothes that I wanted. With the job came a parental stipulation. Mom said I got to keep some of that earned money for spending on whatever I wanted, but she also had me put the rest of it into a savings account. She did this knowing I’d be wanting a driver’s license and a pricy accessory to go along with the license.
When the time came for a vehicle, my parents helped me find an affordable one to start with and I ended up with a used pickup. They helped me find the truck, but I paid for it, all with my own saved money. A few months later, my stepfather wheeled and dealed the pickup and helped find me something that was a little more manageable and had better gas mileage. He was able to trade the pickup for a car at an even swap. The car was a couple years newer, got better MPGs and had less maintenance. Money being saved by it not having to be spent in the first place.
With a car comes expenses. I was responsible for paying the gas and cost of upkeep/repairs. For insurance, I started on my parents’ policy, paying the difference of the increase in coverage. The increased premium, after all, was me as a young, inexperienced driver. When my mom realized it was almost as affordable to have my own policy that was the end of being on my parents policy. She set up a separate policy in my name only. I’m sure I remember wondering why my parents put me on my own policy. After a while, I became proud of having my own policy and paying for it. After all, my friends were all still on their parents policy.
So far, this is where we are at in my backstory. I’ve told you about being a kid as well as my parents allowing me to work as soon I was old enough to get a work permit. Then, my first vehicles in regards to them helping me find them and me paying for them. Along with the car came my first experience with an insurance policy once Mom realized my own policy was beneficial to their rates and me learning how to take care of my own finances.
Now let me tell you about the next car when I needed to get my first loan…………………….but I’ll do that in my next blog post. While this may not be as exciting as waiting to see what happened to your favorite TV character on a season finale cliffhanger I hope it at least makes you want to read my next post.
Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll continue to follow me,
-Jamie
