Where did you get your finance knowledge?

[myrdale]

When I was 5, I put a 50 cents in a toy machine and realized I'd wasted my life savings. This taught me a little on the value of money.

When I was 10, I knew that if I wanted that Lego castle I'd have to save $120 on roughly $4 a week. This taught me to save.

Around 11, my mother would make up fake checks that I had to fill out to pay utility bills and would have to balance a check book.

At the age of 13, I worked in a tobacco field for $2 an hour. Granted it was only for a week, but I worked for $2 an hour!! This taught me a good bit more on the value of money.

While being a freshman and sophmore in college, dispite having rich friends, I had to budget to living on $20 a week (fun money / eatting out).

I could have had a new truck on the first day of freshman year, but I insisted that I wanted a yellow Frontier. I walked, I walked alot for a year and ahalf before we found one. Then I had to make payments during the summer.

Only recently have I discovered Dave Ramsey (2 years). I was already doing everything he says. I'd paid the truck off very first thing. I then saved $13,000 and used $8k of it for a downpayment while keeping the rest for a starter emergency fund, then attacked the loan with advengance.

Lastly my father has a horrible story about his father buying them each an icecream cone as a child. My grandfather was extremly cheap and appeartly wished he had his dime back. I do not plan on ever being like that. I will only purchase what I want, and I will not regret the purchase afterwards.

If you roll all of that together, that's a brief history of my financial knowledge.

[wincrasher]

Mostly you'll find people who learned from the "school of hard knocks".

It's really just common sense. Self-control, separating wants from needs. Comparison shopping and knowing the value of things. Taking your time to consider a purchase instead of just doing what is quick and convenient.

[Alex_Adviser]

I have been properly given knowledge from my parents since the time i was in high school. My parents used to discuss every financial matter of our family with me and that was the starting of my Financial Knowledge. Slowly and steadily I got trained and gained sufficient knowledge with the passage of time. Even now I sometime consult my parents in some major financial decisions that I take.

[snafu]

Parents discussed family finances at the dinner table. We were expected to state what we wanted, how much it costs and justify the expenditure. We earned money by doing chores for household and neighbors. Took a couple of accounting courses in HS. Went to investing seminars sponsored by financial firms. Still reading books like Intelligent investor.

[Pitman]

My Mother. Every since I can remember, my Mother has been drilling savings, and financial knowledge in my brain. She opened up a bank account for me when I was at the wee age of 9 years old, and showed me how to manage a bank book. She also showed me how to budget my little pocket change that I would get from wrapping pennies, she's the sole reason why I'm able to turn a dollar out of $.15 Love ya Mom.

[Radiance]

Via a church based mini course and HERE!!!

[tripods68]

Let see...I entered college at 22 years old after serving 3 years in the Navy. I needed to work part time on weekends that works with my tight schedule. So a friend who was in Insurance biz at that time got me expose, and later I became a licensed agent. I started making good money and wanted portion of it to go towards retirement like IRA. In the end, I ended up getting my Business degree with double concentration in Finance/Insurance. The rest they say is history.

[nycguy567]

i first learned from Suze Orman, now I am working towards my last stage in the Chartered Financial Analyst certification and qualified to sit for CPA exam. granted, i knew i was gonna be in this field from the get go.