Is it just me or does everyone have a difficult time telling themselves “no”. Looking at my family and how financially responsible everyone is, one might say yes, it is just me.
My parents were savers. They didn’t splurge on stuff, they contemplated and saved and discussed purchases. I never once saw my mom or dad doing anything wasteful. But, if you speak with most people my age, their parents were the same way. In fact, a lot of people will tell you that their families were downright poor. I don’t know if more people were poor during my growing up years, or maybe it just seemed like it, because to be honest when it came to finances they sure were a lot smarter than my generation.
In trying to figure out how everyone else in my family got it right early (and not late like me), I remember my parents trying to teach me and my siblings about budgeting. Whatever money we earned from whatever summer job or babysitting was split by percentages into envelopes with labels like clothing, school supplies, savings, and of course fun. As teens we weren’t exactly happy about that because to us, all of our money should’ve been designated for “fun”. It did teach us that sometimes there isn’t enough in the clothes envelope for fancy jeans. Unless, you save what’s in there to add to the next paycheck, or however many it takes until there’s enough for those fancy jeans. And then you’re faced with the dilemma of having only one pair of jeans, no underwear, and no shirts.
Well, the envelopes are long gone, but I can’t help but feel like my current grown up budget is pretty similar just with different titles. We do live in an instant gratification type of society. Maybe if we all used the envelope method and fought the urge to spend, things would be a lot different for everyone. When it comes to money, we could learn a lot from the generation(s) before us. They seemed to know how to do it.