Childhood money memories
Do our childhood money memories influence how we act now? Maybe that’s a completely obvious question, because it’s pretty likely that the answer is yes. So maybe a better question might be “How do our childhood money memories influence the way we act now?”.
Some of lessons I remember learning were things like:
- Credit cards are evil, but oh so tempting
- Visits to the ATM are common
- Cash is for spending as soon as it hits your hand
- Work hard and you’ll get ahead…
- Owning your own business is a way to be successful
- Bargaining at car dealers is fun
I can see the influence of those lessons in my adult life. I thought debt was bad, but got into it anyway. I used to hit up the ATM regularly, until I realized that doing so was causing me to spend money I needed for other things. I still spend cash if I’m carrying it, so I don’t carry it unless I specifically want to blow it on a snack. I’m a big believer in working hard, and I started my first “business” before I was even a teenager. And yes, I like bargaining at car dealers, although more so on behalf of others.
March 25th, 2009 at 5:40 am
My fondest memory of money as a child was with basic math. Dad was teaching me addition and subtraction and I wasn’t following. He pulled out a few coins and gave me some real world examples with them and everything clicked. Since then, money has just made sense (or is it cents?).
Like you, I love to haggle with car dealers on the behalf of others.