Who taught you about money?

[terry1156]

I was talking with a friend this past weekend about where we learn about money. Schoold don't really teach about it so you have to learn it from someplace else. I learned my money habits from my father. my friend says he learned them from his best friend (and his family) in high school. Where did you pick up your money habits?

[Lori63]

Re: Who taught you about money?

I guess I learned mine by watching my mother and doing the opposite of what she did! I've always been good with numbers, and I've always been frugal -I guess I was born that way,because noone else in my immediate family is very money savvy.
I also need to add that when I was a sophomore in college, my dad took my college money (in an acct. with his name, too), so I had to work two jobs and live as cheaply as I could to stay in school. You can sometimes be very creative and frugal when you're desperate.

[keeneye]

Re: Who taught you about money?

I also need to add that when I was a sophomore in college, my dad took my college money (in an acct. with his name, too

That is absolutely terrible!!! I can't understand how someone could do something like that.

[boxxies]

Re: Who taught you about money?

I learnt about how to handle money from watching my mom
being very careful with everything in the household.
From grocery shopping to cooking to gardening,to buy fabric and
wool for making things. She was wonderful at getting the best value
for her dollar.

I guess the best lessons learned are the ones from example.
Marie

[lieweheksie]

Re: Who taught you about money?

I learnt for my parents- my mom stayed home with us and was very careful with money- but I was allways well dressed, we ate really well, nice house, could afford for my handicapped sister to live in a very good home
My dad was also very good with money- no flashy cars( in fact I still drive the '74 Datsun they bought), everything paid for in cash
I got my first real allowance at 14 and had to buy a lot of stuff out of it, including clothes- I learnt to budget

[Tree0164]

Re: Who taught you about money?

I learned from my parents-both good and bad habits. We were very well off, but my mother watched the expenses with a firm hand. Now my parents are enjoying the money that they have. They just bought a Caddy, and have real estate investments plus their retirement plans. My Dad is retiring in a few weeks from his union construction job but plans on working the small handy man jobs.

[2moretrees]

Re: Who taught you about money?

Most of my learning came from self study and books. I really didn't have someone who took me aside and taught me or someone that I could watch for direction.

[jmjj215]

Re: Who taught you about money?

I mostly learned from reading books. My dad would always tell me what was important with money, but he and my mom struggled to actually implement such things (budget, less credit cards, etc.).

[marla]

Re: Who taught you about money?

from my parents. They taught me earlyabout working for money. They were great. If I needed money to do something, they helped me think of jobs that I could do to get the money.

[seaar2000]

Re: Who taught you about money?

Sure didn't learn it at school. My mom was very good with stretching a dollar. My dad was a construction worker, and you know how that is, and worked outside of his job doing house improvements. When I look back, my mom and dad built three houses, I don't know how they did it with seven kids. We never went without, but she was sure good at doing coupons, stretching money to lincoln screamed. I have learned my money skills from my mom. In fact I think I am cheaper than her when it comes to money. Still to this day don't understand how she did it. She was an excellent teacher. Renee

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Who taught you about money?

I thnk you learn about money from any one you watch.
I learned from my dad to get good quality stuff, so that it doesn't need replaced. I learned from my mom that homemade can be better.
I learned from my neighbor that buying what you want might leave you with a bigger house but more 'stuff' to clean.
I learned from my BIL that if your gonna go late on a bill make it electricity they wont shut it off in the winter! (honest I don't do that)
I learned from my Grandma that we are spoiled and don't need anywhere near what we think we do (hello disposables are a luxury, so's the washing machine).
I learned from my brother that fancy talk doesn't help.
I learned from books that barefoot = poor 9unless its nice out), but land = wealth.
I learned from my husband and kids that love is more than any of that.

[vendigirl]

Re: Who taught you about money?

Ironically, my parents are very good money managers but didn't teach any of that to me. What I did learn was how to spend and how to really love buying expensive, beautiful things. The difference is that my parents have the money to buy that stuff where I didn't.

[jhd815]

Re: Who taught you about money?

Unfortunately I had to teach myself for the most part. I never had any economics classes in high school or college. When I graduated from college and started getting my first credit cards I had no idea the amount of trouble that they would / could cause me financially.

I would say that within the last 6 yrs I've really tried to learn more about money, money management, credit and debt, and now beginning to learn more about investing.

What a shame it is that we (adults) don't pass on money lessons to our children in our schools and in our personal examples. This is something I hope to be able to do more about in the coming new year.

I've begun sharing much of my knowledge with other family members, especially my youngest brother so he doesn't wind up making the same mistakes I did or at least so he'll know the consequences of making poor decisions when it comes to personal money management.

I also share my knowledge through my newsletter "To Your Credit", but I don't want to turn this into an ad or plug.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Who taught you about money?

I noticed alot of people lamenting the lack of money education in schools, but I don't think that a government almost continuosly running a deficit would be a better teacher. Especially since the amount of money spent on public school compared to the amount of actual learning is downright criminal.

[globetrotter]

Re: Who taught you about money?

I think that a basic personal financial course should be required of all high school students. The best thing would be to have the students have a realistic budget and things they needed to buy over the course of a year. It would be so much more valuable than many of the courses that are currently being taught in high school.