Build Tomorrow - Another Day Of Life

When I wrote my post yesterday on Personal Finance Sites for everyone, I was a bit surprised at the response. It is a subject that everyone has a vested interest in. A site suggested by one of my readers was “The Simple Dollar” another personal site written by Trent Hamm. I did take a look at it, and have added it to the same must read financial sites, such as Frugal Dad, and Blogging Away Debt.

I found his tale of self destruction fascinating. And very different from mine. So to me when you stop to think that so many of us end up in this debt world, but we all took different routes to get there.

So how did I get here? Well that’s actually a story of it’s own because I got here or close to here twice in fact.

Growing up we were not poor. We were the average middle class, with 2 kids dogs a house and a mortgage. What was different were my parents backgrounds. My father grew up in a family of money. Though the never hesitated to meet the necessities for life, his parents were not and still are not flaunters. They truly believe that money is something that can evaporate over night.

My mother was a war refugee, who came to the US with nothing. No language and not a dime to her name. By the time her parents died they had amassed enough money to live out their retirement years, but growing up even the necessities were hard to come by. Shoes, clothing, and anything above their meager existence were considered luxury. Her family pulled themselves out of that existence. My mother never forgot what it was like to come from it though.

Growing up we never needed for anything. There was always food on the table, a warm house, and money for the occasional family vacation. We didn’t get the wants like cable TV, or new electronics like VCR’s when they first came out. We were in fact many times the last kids on the block to get anything like that. When we did get those things, it was because my sister and I earned the money (at least half) by doing chores, or odd jobs. Usually once we came up with half my parents would provide the other half. We were expected to save half of any money we made, and make some charitable donation yearly.

Our lives and purchases always had to fit the “Needs/Want Test”. Needs were always paramount, followed by the wants test, that had a very strict rating criteria (more on that in a later post). Then once the needs were fulfilled, the wants should be addressed.

Sounds great right? WRONG! What that did was without always understanding the reasons, such as my mother’s life, which we knew little of until later in life. Or ever letting a frivolous want slip by you can feel deprived. Then someday when the money is yours to decide what and when, you are like an addict. And that is where it all begins. In my next post I’ll relate how “The addiction of instant Gratification” almost bankrupted me.

~Another Day

Related Posts

• The Road to Today-”Going Down to the Bottom”
• The Evolution Of Life Part III-Practical Dreams
• Changing of Financial Attitudes