The Subtle Money Lessons From My Childhood

In my younger years, the touch of a dollar bill was quite invigorating when all I ever got to spend were nickels and dimes. If that memory served any purpose, it was to show me how precious a dollar was and how much it could buy (even though inflation has destroyed that buying power).

My parents did a great job keeping money out of my childhood. Both of them were the type to get their hands dirty before paying someone else to do it for them.

My mom, being the wife and all, was the cook in the household. My father was the handyman with the curious mind and loved to open things up, learn how they worked, and fixing it up.

From watching them do these things day in and day out, their resourcefulness has been imprinted in my mind – the concept of value and worth really hits home.

Cook It Yourself
Approximately 95% of all dinner meals we ate were home-cooked. Once in a while, my mom would teach me and my sister a few skills around the kitchen.

As we get older, not only did we learn that it is cheaper to cook our own food, it is also much healthy. Many times do we ask my mom how much the dinner, that she put before, had cost her. And it is still thoroughly amazing that the total cost of the ingredients in a home cooked meal for 4 cost less than two combo meals as a fast food restaurant.

When college came around, I was forced into a college meal plan for the first two years but afterwards, I began buying my own groceries and made the majority of my food. That saved me a ton.

Do-It-Yourself
My father is a skilled craftsman. He built many of the tables, shelves, and cabinets that we used. On occasions, he’d let me paint. That only covers a small area of the many DIY projects that he has completed.

When I see the many things in my immediate surrounding that are made with bare materials, it just shows what can be done with the right tools and some work (much like with the food). Throw in the my childhood love of Legos, jigsaw puzzles, and art, the knack for creating something from nothing very little was in the blood.

DIY projects are usually more cost-effective while being quite educational and fun! In fact, the design of Realm of Prosperity was entirely a DIY project. While I didn’t build the WordPress template, I did learn to make tweaks and small design changes. Even though I may not have done a great job, it would have cost more than pocket change to have someone else do it.

Fix It Yourself
Again, my dad liked to poke around the interiors of electronics and complex contraptions to see how they worked, which meant he’d be able to repair them if they happened to break. Plus, he’s a handyman by nature so he prefers to have a general knowledge of everything.

He’s worked on:

• Plumbing
• Electronics
• Home Appliances
• Furniture

Many people look at a broken object and think that’s the end of it. Sometimes, a small fix is all that is required to bring it back to life but we tend to just head out to the store and waste money on a new one. The ability to fix it isn’t what saves money, it’s the mentality that we should try to fix something before it’s considered garbage.

Setting the Example
Constant exposure to my parents’ behavior has fostered a similar attitude towards becoming more resourceful. They were lessons in disguise that spanned many years.

These were only a few indirect ways that parents could teach their kids about smarter spending and show them the money that can be saved with a little effort.

How did your parents indirectly affect the way you handle your money when you were young? How have you applied these subtle lessons in your later years?

(Photo credit: NickNguyen)

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