I’m not cheap, I’m frugal. I never had any money woes. It was instilled in me at a young age to save money. I remember even at the age of 5 giving my birthday money to my mom to save. I held money to the highest regard.
I always put away about 90% of any money I got and put the rest in this secret book I made that had a hole in the middle. My brother would ask me to spot him some money and what I did was had him pay me back in interest which was only $5 to $10. Even in high school when people borrowed some money they paid me back with interest. It wasn’t ever more than $5 I spotted them, but I always asked for more than what I gave them.
I started working at 14 and living with my parents didn’t have any expenses except when I wanted to go to the movies or buy some clothes. I didn’t go shopping with every paycheck or even every other pay check. In college I was the same way. I still went out and had fun, but barely wasted money besides gas. If I went to bars or clubs I didn’t buy drinks, first because I was driving, second I don’t have to drink to have fun and thirdly usually guys buy you a drink. I had friends that would waste money at the bar for no reason. People would always say I was cheap and ask what was I saving for.
As a girl I didn’t know what I was saving for just knew it was important and in college I saved to eventually get my place. Yet even when I had enough money to get a place I didn’t want to waste it. I saw no issue in living with my parents. I still paid some rent, but nothing like I’m paying now which is $1,300. I remember going to Chase and opening up a ROTH account and when the banker looked at my account he had to ask me again how old I was because he couldn’t believe a 24-year-old had saved so much money.
My mom always had me put money in a CD and I would always put the max years for the bank to withhold my money because I knew I wouldn’t have to touch it. So with that I got some extra cash as well. What my mom also did was get me a credit card at a young age which she used and would pay off to build my credit. Now I don’t have many credit cards I use, I have only one! I don’t put much on my credit card either, but I do use it once in a while to continue in building my credit. I never pay the minimum it’s always a couple of hundreds I put down. You never want to pay the minimum! The sad thing is people don’t want to balance their checkbook either which will tell you checking where your money in your checking account is going.
As you can see I knew how to budget, invest and wasn’t afraid to look at my budget and expenses. The week I received Ziana’s birth certificate I opened up a bank account for her and put all the baby shower money in there plus any money people give us for her. I know many people aren’t as fortunate as I was to have that financial stability but there is still a way to learn.
What I did when I was young was never bring my debit card or credit card with me so I couldn’t easily just take it out and swipe. I always took money out of a paycheck and the rest put in my savings account so my rule of thumb was whatever is in the savings I didn’t touch. Any money I had taken out was what I had to “live” off until next paycheck.
Of course I wanted designer clothes and the newest technological devices out, but I knew once that came out within a few months something newer and better would come out. Why waste my money? I wish I could control people’s finances something like a financial advisor minus all the percentages and savvy phrases. I would be amazing at it!
There’s an iPhone application called Mint which will help you track, budget and manage your money to help you save better and help you see where exactly all your hard-earned cash is going. If you can’t manage your money on your own this application is just for you. Give it a try since its free and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Advice:
– I suggest you all definitely invest if you have the extra money to do so; CDs, ROTH, stocks.
-Start balancing your checkbook.
-Prioritize your spending (necessities and wants)
-Do NOT sign up for all these credit cards just for an extra 15% off.
-Next time you go to the mall or bar ask yourself if it’s really worth spending $75 bucks on a blouse or $15 bucks for a tiny drink that’s all mostly full of soda!
