What's your earliest influence?

[starry night]

What's your earliest memory of a financial influence?
For me, it was 1950's, as a little one. My Dad would give us a weekly allowance: a quarter for my older brother, age 6, a dime for me (age 5), and a nickel for baby brother (age 4). We were strenuously told that this was ALL we would get until the next payday (Saturday morning), that we could spend it, save it or lose it, but we would not get more.
My smarter older brother usually managed to save his; I would spend mine on the spot for another Dale Evans Coloring Book (same as the one I bought the week before), and little brother always bought a pea-shooter (the only thing he could get for a nickel). We later got passbook savings accounts into which to deposit bits and bits (earning 4.5% interest!!). I've learned a lot since those days --- and BECAUSE of those days.

 

[Meadbh]

I was born during the 100th anniversary month of a local savings bank. To celebrate, they gave every baby born that month in the city a savings deposit account with a small sum of money in it. Since my expenses at that time were zero, I have been LBYM since I was born. Birthday and Christmas cash gifts were deposited into the account. By the time I was four, my parents took me to the bank to find out how much my savings had grown. That's when I learned about the magic of compound interest. Many years later, I withdrew from that same account to put a down payment on my first house.

Now does anyone have any financial stories from inside the uterus?

 

[travelover]

Earliest? Well, my father believed in buying inexpensive condoms.

 

[Meadbh]

Earliest? Well, my father believed in buying inexpensive condoms.

 

[LOL!]

If are talking about investing and not typical parental words of wisdom like "Life is not fair" and "Get a job", then ...

In the 1960s in junior high, I read Security Analysis by Graham and Dodd because it was on the bookshelf in the den.

 

[Dash man]

My earliest financial influence, other than a meager weekly allowance, was the money I found I could earn by mowing my neighbor's yards. They paid me $5 for a typical neighborhood size yard plus extra if I pulled weeds. I saved that money until high school where I bought a steer to raise and show at the county fair, where I made a lot more money. I then bought more steers, some pigs and this eventually paid for a good part of college. Things went south when I married a spendthrift, though. Second time around I chose much better.

 

[MasterBlaster]

My Earliest Effluance

 

[Big_Hitter]

my earliest influence?

mowing yards in the summer for money in Houston when I was in college


I swore to myself I'd never do that again

 

[NW-Bound]

I don't remember. I thought I was born with the [-]frugal gene[/-] delay gratification personal trait. Could it be innate?

 

[Walt34]

I don't remember. I thought I was born with the [-]frugal gene[/-] delay gratification personal trait. Could it be innate?

I suspect that it is. Why else would so many otherwise apparently intelligent people be living paycheck-to-paycheck?

My earliest memories are of dealing with an allowance, a dime to start I think, then later a quarter. State sales tax then started with a 25¢ purchase so I learned to break up purchases to less than that to avoid the penny of tax, which I usually didn't have anyway and regarded as simply theft since I received nothing of value from it. (To a ten-year-old anyway.)

Superman comic books were a dime. I sure wish I had kept them - they'd pay for a new Caddy at least by now.

 

[willing2try]

My earliest financial influence was when I was as young as I can remember (mid 1960s). My parents and paternal grandparents ingrained into my brain to "pay yourself before you pay your bills".

 

[Meadbh]

I don't remember. I thought I was born with the [-]frugal gene[/-] delay gratification personal trait. Could it be innate?

I suspect that it is. Why else would so many otherwise apparently intelligent people be living paycheck-to-paycheck?

There us some scientific evidence to support this.

http://www.psmag.com/business-economics/being-frugal-may-be-more-genetic-than-learned-31479

On the Heritability of Consumer Decision Making: An Exploratory Approach for Studying Genetic Effects on Judgment and Choice on JSTOR

 

[Nemo2]

I guess I was a (really) late starter......age 19, friends had been working in the Australian north, on the construction of a dam.......they went to Perth, Western Australia, for the hiatus when work shut down because of 'The Wet'.

(Communication in those days, and those places, was not what it is today.)

At the start of the new season I hitched a ride to Alice Springs, where I heard the job had been delayed, (turns out it had, and my friends were camped out, living on oatmeal....and I couldn't have found them anyway); I had enough money to get there or get back to Adelaide by train.

Chose the latter......enough money left over to buy a few cans of Irish Stew.....trip was a couple days, and periodically the people sharing the compartment I was in went to the dining car......I always said I wasn't hungry, then went into the toilet, (because I didn't want them feeling sorry for me), to eat cold Irish Stew out of a can.

I decided this was intolerable, and that, in future, I'd always have a little money to fall back on.........amassing a little more wasn't instantaneous, but the seed had been planted.

 

[papadad111]

We were broke-dad was always between jobs. My earliest memory, guess I was 4 or 5 and down for a nap but caught my dad in my room stealing loose change out of MY piggy bank.

He said it was for "parking meter" but even then I knew better. It was for day-old loaves of bread to go with the free cheese and tomato soup that mom would make.

We used to eat cheese sandwiches dunked in tomato soup .... a lot.

Many aspects of that memory have influenced my life ...

Dad passed away a couple years ago. Funny enough, today he would have been 80.

RIP Dad. And thanks because you did the very best that you were capable of doing. I'm probably a better person because I had to learn to work on my own.

 

[RenoJay]

My parents were very frugal. We'd go out to eat and of course I wasn't allowed to order dessert or a Coke. At the end Dad would scrutinize the check. I seriously thought we were poor. I was afraid to join the track team when I was 15 because I didn't want to ask them for $30 for shoes. Years later I learned they're multi millionaires. I guess in a perverted way, the "reward" for some of the money stress in childhood is that I'm in line for a nice inheritance one day. (And yes, I know many people never go out to dinner. Just trust me...Dad made me feel we were steps from poverty when reality was nothing close to that.)


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[dixonge]

I had rather the opposite upbringing than you, RenoJay. We ate out on a regular basis, I generally had the school supplies I needed. We lived in decent homes. Christmas was everything I wanted. Then one time in high school for some reason I was determined to find a pairi of jeans that wasn't repaired or in need of repair, something that wasn't old. I was complaining and then it happened. My Mom, in trying to calm me and explain, ended up basically apologizing. And it hit me like a ton of bricks -- we are poor!

For some reason I had just never seen it before, but in that moment it became crystal clear. I stopped complaining, I wore what I could. And as soon as I could I began working jobs to pay for anything I needed or wanted. I worked evenings in school and as much as possible in summer.

I was ADHD and undiagnosed, and I couldn't keep a job to save my life, but I never had a problem wanting or finding one. Most of my financial influences were the negative kind, what *not* to do. But those can be good lessons, if you learn from them...

 

[boog]

When I was 11, I decided that I would be completely fulfilled if I had a go-cart. My parents told me I could have one, if I paid for it. The one I wanted was $300 in the Sears catalog. My $2 weekly allowance didn't seem like it would get me in a go-cart anytime soon, so I sought employment. Got a summer job working in the tobacco fields of a local farmer - big money - $40 per week, cash on Friday. Saved every penny for 8 weeks in a savings account at the bank. After accumulating $320 and realizing how much work went into getting it, I couldn't part with it for the go-cart. Decided I'd wait and keep saving for a car. That began my understanding of saving and delayed gratification. Also taught me that it's a lot easier to spend someone else's money. Still haven't bought that go-cart.

 

[MichaelB]

I hear the call of The Four Yorshiremen, no doubt they will soon make an appearance.

 

[Car-Guy]

my earliest influence?

mowing yards in the summer for money in Houston [-]when I was in college[/-]


I swore to myself I'd never do that again

+1 except I started in Junior High school (or maybe earlier) - Houston summers were really hot, even before global warming. I started by helping some of the bigger kids cut grass and was paid $1 per yard to assist. Later I went independent and started mowing yards by myself and keeping the entire amount. Which varied between ~$5 and up to $10 for a really big yard. (That was a lot of money in the 60's) I learned then that I could make more money working for myself. (however, I do remember disliking having to pay ~25 cent a gallon for the lawn mower gas.)

About the same time, I would also collect empty soda and beer bottles that had be throw out on the side of the roads in the area. Some folks called it litter, I saw it as cash.

 

[Nemo2]

I hear the call of The Four Yorshiremen, no doubt they will soon make an appearance.

I was so poor I could only afford two Yorkshiremen.

 

[REWahoo]

I was so poor I could only afford two Yorkshiremen.

Sheer luxury.

 

[Nemo2]

Sheer luxury.

Did I mention that they were both midgets?

 

[NW-Bound]

I did not know about the Yorkshiremen until I came to this forum. By that time, I was already financially established.

So, the Yorkshiremen, no matter their number or height, had nothing on me.

 

[HadEnuff]

my first meaningful influence was my first partner (an uncle) who immediately impressed upon me the need to always put some money away. Just as important, but later, his son taught me he value of LBYM...

 

[HadEnuff]

we only had one Yorkshireman, a midget who was dead. Stank to high heaven at what would have been our dinner table, if we'd had a table, or food for dinner.