I grew up in a family of four and my mom was on a fixed income. She always told us bills first then we'll be able to go do things, but that never happened. My mom did what she could. I thank her for making me understand how important it is to know that not being able to buy all the name brand clothes, and $150 pair of sneakers are not important because, even though we got those things, we were still not happy. I was never able to go to the movies or sign up for things that I wanted to do because we couldn't afford it.
It bothered me at first but I got use to and now I look back and I'm saying the same thing to my daughter "I can't right now I don't have enough money". I honestly can say I'd rather be broke and happy because money can make you miserable. A lot of people who live in the richest neighborhoods have kids but their kids are not happy no matter what you buy them or what sport they are in. What are we teaching our kids about money?
If I had a lot of money I would still be me always helping and giving. I see now you can't even get a clothing voucher at a thrift store but once a year, or a gas voucher to go get a child who's stuck 4 hours away, if you don't have enough money. You can't turn to any agencies because they all say the same thing; "we can't help", or they act like it's their money and just don't care.
I can honestly say I can be on a fixed income and not be able to do things and I'm OK. Explaining it to my 6 year old daughter can be difficult at times but, just like I learned, it's not about getting something all the time. There are times when I can get that toy that she wants and times I can't, but the important thing is that we have each other and money doesn't make us.
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I grew up in a family that didn't have much money, my dad made $12,000 at his peak and my mom was a stay at home. She used the envelope system before it was 'chic' how I wish I had her little red book of envelopes! I never really thought about brand names 'cause I knew we couldn't afford it. My mom borrowed a lot of toys from my aunt, because my cousin was older.
My husband, on the other hand grew up with money. His dad as an engineer and they owned rent houses. He has a hard time controlling his spending.
I disagree partly of what you said about money, but I do agree money does not always make you happy but it does help because if you don't have money and your struggling to pay the bills and it's very stressful which can cause tentsion between you and your partner also if you have kids it's very upsetting when your kids ask for something and you don't have the money and you always have to tell them no. A good way to teach your kids about money, instead of just buying them the things they want, make them earn them so they can see it's not that easy. Like my husband is a roofer during school break he is gonna take my boys to work for them to see how hard it is, and that School is important so you can get a job you like if you get a job that your are interested in doing you will never work a day in your life.
I get it, we didn't have much money either, still don't, but I have never been the "name brand" type of person. In fact I hate those purses people buy with designers names on them!
I grew up being raised by a single mom and receive Social Security benefits for herself and my siblings because of the death of our father. She was a seamstress, she learn to repair things around the house, paint ,Garden and she was a pantry cook which means that she cooked everything from scratch and we ate no processed foods. We were pretty close because she was also an artist and would sketch clothes that we saw either in a catalog or in a store window and she would make it according to her specifications and we always looked as stylish as the other girls at school.
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