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What My Parents Taught Me About Money
Anonymous at High Class, Low Income asks her readers if their parents taught them about money. To that, I say “bwahaha….”
As far as I can remember, we weren’t exactly well to do, if you will. We had a hell of a nice house in a hell of a nice neighborhood, but for most of my younger years my mom worked two full time jobs. When I was really young, she drove a total beater of an old ugly as sin Chevy Cavalier, which is probably the most frugal thing I ever saw happen around those parts. I was too young to know it at the time, but I’m pretty sure we were on food stamps, too, for a bit there. Big house, nice quiet neighborhood, food stamps. Things are adding up quickly, I tell ya.
Probably the first time I thought “what the hell are they doing?” was when I noticed a habit of buying one new vehicle, and finally paying it off only to turn around and buy another. I never even knew how much money my parents made until it came time to apply for financial aid for college. My dad always seemed secretive of how much money he and my mom made, much less anything else involving money in the house. There was always a serious “she made the money, he spent it” thing going on.
Of the two things my parents taught me about money (that I remember), one was “if you want a car, get a job.” They didn’t actually have to tell me this, as I was the youngest of four, so I already knew the routine pretty well. I still only got my first truck and my driver’s license when I was 18, because hey, I was pretty awesome at managing my money at the time. Or not. I didn’t even save up for the truck, I got a loan from a business associate (yes, I was quite the entrepreneur).
The second, and much more important thing I learned about money from my parents was to not hide your finances from the people you have no reason to hide it from. My dad always had a “stash” hidden somewhere, which was quite simply an envelope stuffed with cash. At the very least, it was coupon savings from grocery shopping, but if there was more to it than that, who knows. I can’t imagine how my mom put up with such a thing.
And would the sky really have fallen just by telling your kids how much money you make? Jeez.
Other than all that, I don’t think my parents taught me much about money at all. My dad was a douche about it and my mom wasn’t around for it. What time she was around was spent doing more motherly things like nagging about cleaning and whatnot 
Hum… I suppose the point of reflecting on how your parents raised you is so you can do a better job with your kids than they did with you, right?
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t know if I’d go that far as saying my parents were secretive about how much they made but I just knew we had enough to get what we wanted lol. My dad works and my mom is a stay at home mom so I know we had a lot in that respect. I just wish they had given me lessons about the importance of saving. Coming from a family where instant-gratification was a regular thing I kind of grew up with that mindset. At least we know now what to teach our children when that day comes!
But what happens when you have parents who are financially ignorant? What do their kids learn? We don’t offer finance classes in school, and with as small as attention spans are these days, it’s too difficult for people to even read a contract before they sign in. So, while our parents told us no and told us the right way to do things, what do we do for kids whose parents are not as knowledgeable?
Well, Brandon, hopefully those kids are smart enough to see the things their parents are doing, and the negative effects of those actions, and learn from it themselves. I definitely agree with you on the contract signing, I read everything I sign (whether it’s a contract, hospital paperwork, employment paperwork) and almost feel weird doing so because nobody reads anything they sign these days.
I was definately in the same situation as you…I have always said “I learned what not to do from my parents.”