I have always been fascinated by money. Ever since I can remember, I loved having it, looking at it, and dreaming of what cool materialistic item I would buy with it. "Money isn't everything" and "money doesn't buy happiness" are phrases I truly believe. After all, I chose to become a teacher, and I live an amazing life and have been truly blessed. The more I learn about money, the more simplistic I think it is. This summer I started to read Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics and found it fascinating and easy to understand with his real life examples. I am always struck with how many people in America struggle with money. That struggle is more of a societal and cultural problem than an economic one. The societal and cultural pressures that people in our society feel lead to many of their economic troubles. A statistic that floored me when I read it, and had to do a double take on was that "just 40% of Americans could cover a $1000 emergency with their savings". That figure is mind blowing if you think of how many Americans have jobs and income.
My mother taught me an extremely valuable lesson early in life: you don't buy something that you don't have the cash for. That simple lesson has helped me tremendously in my life. It does require planning and research, but I naturally love that stuff so it was never a burden for me. Almost everything I have ever bought has been with careful planning, savings, and research whether it was a Biker Scout Star Wars action figure when I was 8 years old, or my boom box in 8th grade, my tv for my bedroom in 9th grade, my first used car when I was 20, or the materials to finish my basement when I was 25. By following my mother's basic rule, I have made my money and my family's money work for us by avoiding paying interest. When I talk with my kids about money, or younger people at work, I always stress this important principle.
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