What have your parents taught you about money?

Kateelizabee

I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. What have your parents taught you, pros and cons, intentionally or unintentionally?

Mum pro: She taught me to burn things with important info after you're done (this was before personal shredders)
Mum con: She taught me money matters of grown-ups aren't always logical. Maybe this should be a pro but it was done in a negative way.

Dad pro: My dad taught me how to conserve and ration. He's why I try to be eco-friendly, whether he realises it or not!
Dad con: He taught me how much smoking really costs.

iwanttosave_2

My mum taught me everything I need to know abot money, I just saw what she did and did the complete opposite. We had loads of money when growing up and had lovely holidays but when she remarried it all went down hill, she got in loads of debt, the phone bill went in so many variations of her name, my first reaction to this day when I hear a knock at the door is to duck in case its a collector or bailiff.

I on the other hand, have never been in debt, the only thing that isn't prepaid is the phone and my mobile, I own everything in my house, I worked since the word go, i pay more rent than I should incase I am ever short one week.I never buy anything I can't afford, if I need it I save. Watching her and knowing how I felt has made me want to do everything in my power not to let my kids grow up like that, I am so sensible with my money but still manage loads of treats for us all, weirdly I thank her for this, I myself could have easily gone down that route

Becles

In the words of my parents..........

Everything should be justified as a need to make it seem like you can't live without it. eg: I need a foreign holiday as I'm tired, need a rest and the british weather is too depressing......

If you haven't got the money for your "needs", borrow it. Everything can be bought on credit or you can just increase/extend the mortgage. Don't worry - it'll get paid off when we win the lottery.

You must buy all financial things from Barclays and can only grocery shop in Sainsburys. This is the law! Our bad daughter broke this by banking elsewhere and shopping at various local shops and even lowers her standards by buying off markets. We never let her forget her "sins".

The internet is evil and all online shops are run by criminals. If you want to buy something, you just go to the nearest shop. Don't waste time shopping around. eg: we recently shunned the excellent digital camera deals our daughter searched the net for, and were persuaded to buy a more expensive camera in a high street shop, which doesn't have the features we wanted, but the man was ever so nice.

You must buy regular treats like weekends away, expensive meals out, clothes you don't need. You need treats to survive and that's what credit cards are made for.

You need to buy things for your expectations in life rather than what you actually need. We have a fully functional "sewing room" with masses of material, threads, sewing machine, etc. Shame we don't have the time to actually use any of it. Ditto: fitness equipment. Ditto: mountain bikes.

You must have electrical goods in all rooms. Most of our rooms have TV's, DVD's etc., even though the rooms are rarely used. Our daugher is cruel to her children as she only has one TV in the living room.

You must poke fun of wayward daughters who watches every penny, collect loyalty points, looks for bargains, and buys off the internet for savings. It's not right that our daughter has broken "the law", and she needs to be reminded of this often.

:rolleyes:

troll35

I think that my parents taught me the value of money without really trying. They have always said don't borrow for what you can't afford (unless it's on interest free). One of the most valuble lessons I had was when I went to university 20 years ago when there were student grants rather than loans. The grant was means tested and parents were expected to make up the difference between what you got and the value of the full grant. My grant allocation just covered the cost of my university accomodation bill each term. My parents said they couldn't afford to pay their contribution in one lump sum and would have to put some in my building society account each week, which as it was an instant access savings account had no overdraft facility. It there was no money there then it was tough. I learnt to budget really quickly while many of my friends who got their money in lump sums would go out on mad spending binges and then spend the last weeks of term living off beans on toast.
I must also thank my Mum and Dad for their boring food regime (Sunday roast, Monday bacon, Tuesday stew from remains of roast, Wednesday mince, Thursday can't remember, Friday fish and chips and Saturday sausages). I taught myself to cook "foreign food" at the age of 13 and was quickly able to tell them "You'll eat what you're given!" I love cooking and can now rustle up a meal from almost anything.

Spendless

Lol @ Becles.

Mine would be always stop with British Gas, npower, British Telecom, the same mortgage provider for 25 years making sure you get the insurance from them too. Oh and always shop at Marks & Spencers for your christmas food cos its not just christmas it's an M&S one.

:rolleyes:

catznine

I think I must be a generation older than most of the posters as my parents got together during wwII and were always careful with their money. They had to save for everything, bought furniture 2nd hand, Mum made most of our clothes and all meals were made from scratch. I did learn from them and when we first got married (nearly 30 years ago) credit cards were unheard of and hire purchase was still something to be avoided.

Then came the 80's have it all era, credit cards, store cards etc and I think that a lot of my generation (myself included for a while) rebelled against our upbringing and thought "why not?" but it was all at a cost, having to work long hours just to make payments.

We saw the light when I became ill and we could no longer depend on 2 incomes. That was when I actually looked at the small print and realised how much we were paying in interest! :eek: It took a long time as for a while we were swimming against the tide, it seemed no one else our age understood our new moneysaving ways (it took long enough to convince oh). Gradually I was able to incorporate my mothers thrifty ways and now things are turning full circle. It is so refreshing to see that so many of the next generation are showing more intelligence and common sense than a lot of my own generation.

filigree_2

I learned from example because my parents had a low income and managed without credit cards etc because they were not commonly used at that time. Mum warned me against using catalogues and after being a Littlewoods agent very briefly I have to agree with her. Overpriced tat and inflated interest - ugh! My Dad has never had a credit card in his life.

I'm glad I took my Mum's advice to buy a home instead of renting. I didn't really have much choice though because unlike my parents I couldn't get a housing association flat! Even when the mortgage rate was 16% it was still cheaper than renting privately.

Strangely though, we have lived on a low income for years (I stayed at home with disabled son) but I'm sure we have a higher standard of living than I did when I was a child. For instance we have a car, washing machine, Playstation... sometimes I can't understand why we were so blooming poor in the 70's?

Faith_2

My parents were very careful with money, yet they taught me nothing as for them financial matters are (very very) private and must not been discussed with children/teenagers as they might go and tell the neighbours (??????).

I've paid for this. Dearly. But gosh has it been a steep learning curve lol!

*Louise*

iwanttosave wrote:

My mum taught me everything I need to know abot money, I just saw what she did and did the complete opposite. We had loads of money when growing up and had lovely holidays but when she remarried it all went down hill, she got in loads of debt, the phone bill went in so many variations of her name, my first reaction to this day when I hear a knock at the door is to duck in case its a collector or bailiff.

I know that feeling!

However, we didn't have all that much money when we were growing up, and went for 5 years without a home phone. I hated having to answer the door and say that there was no-one in. She hasn't changed - everything is 'buy now pay next year' but she doent put money away and thinks she will be able to deal with it. I am constantly having to help her sort things out.

So, like you - I do the opposite to my mum......I save for things I want, and make sure I pay the most important things first.Iit took me a few years to figure things out for myself though, so I am in some debt at the moment,but most of that belongs to my partner, who is rubbish with money. :rolleyes:

K9cuddles

Oh gosh this really is an interesting thread!!!

Well I was raised in a 1 parent family, but I can truly say I never wanted for nothing, regular holidays, nice clothes, lovely xmas and b'day pressies and always lots of food on the table!!! Now I'm older I can really appreicate how hard my mum work to put a roof over my 2 brothers and my head (and she still does for me at the moment!!).

Her parents live in council house living of state pension and she's pretty darn proud that she owns her own house and rents a flat out (to be her pension as she started too late). She's always taken risks but they've always paid off!

But now her attitdue is changing.. now she buys what she want's when she wants but I think that because she's had struggled for so long. I don't blame her!! She's a firm believer in paying off your debts first (which I have always done) but on the turn side she believes in living for today which can end up in random, pointless and expensive purchases!!!

Lucky enough it's now my turn to keep an eye on her! Were open about money situations and now I'm looking at my finances more seriously (after racking it up at uni and not telling her!!!) I always spread my knowledge!! We now meal plan and she even asked me about ISA's the other day (as she has no savings.. and my aim is for her to have some by the end of the year!!), she already saving for 2006 xmas!!!!

It's your duty to look out for your family isn't it!! I've mentioned to my eldest brother that he should meal plan and borrow my book Money Diet book, he's taken me up on the offer!!

I'm amazed I didn't learn this stuff at school! I think it should be a must and sure it would benefit the nation as a whole!!!

nearlyrich

My parents didn't have much money, they had six children and we always lived in a rented house, never had holidays till I was 14 just day trips to the seaside in the school summer holidays. My dad got paid in cash, no cheques or credit cards were in common use in our circles in the 60's and 70's. My mum worked miracles with the money she got to feed and clothe us, we never had every thing we wanted ( colour tv, car, phone etc didn't feature in my homelife at all)but we had our needs satisfied and lots of love and the handful of occaisions my mum wasn't there when I came in from school she was probably in hospital having one of the younger siblings.

When I started to earn my own money I was determined to save for a rainy day because I have seen my mum open her purse on a Tuesday and have nothing in it (payday was usually Friday). I also wanted to own my own home and we do, no worries about paying the rent here.