Comments on: First Piece Of Financial Advice I Remember

By: Cara

Cara — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:53:06 +0000

The first advice I remember was a grade 10 course I took. I can’t remember what it was called, something like CareerBridge. You drew up resumes and cover letters, practiced interview questions. But the teacher said to start investing now. I was 15 years old. He said we should invest now and it would compound and amount to a lot of money by the time we’re 65. I wish I had followed his advice. I’m now 27 and have precisely $14 invested for retirement.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:19:15 +0000

I don’t think I ever received much financial advice from my parents, at least not that I remember. All of my financial knowledge comes from a class in high school and the internet. Luckily, that’s been enough to keep me out of debt.

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 06:04:27 +0000

“Get an education so you can support yourself in case you’re ever divorced or widowed.”

When I was growing up, it was assumed that a woman would be supported by a man, and since it was “his” money, he would take care of personal finance issues. My parents taught me about money more by example than by direct instruction. They lived frugally and saved assiduously so my father could retire as early as possible.

By: Dee

Dee — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:34:50 +0000

It had to be, “Money doesn’t grow on trees”.

With “if you can’t pay cash, you can’t afford it” have kept me from too much spending without thought.

By: AmyMo

AmyMo — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:45:22 +0000

“Save your money and buy a farm.” Grandma C.

I never had the faintest idea what she was talking about but she wrote that in every single card that came to us with money in it (sometimes a $5, sometimes a $20 as we got older).

We used to joke about it because nobody in my family farms or owned a farm in the last century so it was an odd duck comment. But the reality of it, as I got older, is that it was my grandmother’s way of encouraging us to save and know what we were saving for. She and my Grandfather lived frugally and happily on a civil servant’s wage and managed their retirement and long term care arrangements so gracefully that they are an inspiration to all of us.

At 36, I’m going to finally try to buy my first house soon and I have already decided that I will call it the Farm.

By: Kev

Kev — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:40:59 +0000

My first piece of financial wisdom came from my mother – a single woman who raised two children with very little earnings. The secret of her success was strict budgeting and she taught me how to create and maintain my own budget when I first started working. She also taught me all about “Snow Flaking” and “Snow balling” debt. Those weren’t the terms she used, but the process was the exact same. Over twenty years later, her advice holds up every bit as strong today as it did then. It’s quite impressive when I think about it b/c she was never taught those things herself – She devised them out of necessity. She was way ahead of her time.

By: Karen in So. MD.

Karen in So. MD. — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:08:44 +0000

One bit of advice I learned from my parents is “If you can’t pay for it today, you can’t pay for it when you get the bill in 30 days”. Basically, just the usual stuff – don’t use credit cards, don’t keep up with the Jones’s, say NO to home equity lines, etc. Their advice worked — no debt for us beyond a small mortgage and one vehicle payment. After all, stuff is just stuff and it really doesn’t matter.

By: Wayward

Wayward — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:08:01 +0000

Ahhh, the campus credit card raiders. I remember them. I filled out an application for one card, and I received six. SIX. From the same credit card company. And of course, to get through to a service rep., you actually had to active the card to access their “support” systems.

It paid off for me though. I called mom and asked her what I should do. The six cards were for higher limits and lower interest rates than my existing card, so I used that to negotiate the terms on my existing card, then cancelled the six and petitioned to have them removed from my credit history due to the predatory tactics used by the card company and raiders. Thanks (again), mom.

By: jay

jay — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 19:40:12 +0000

Just asked my 21 year old what she remembered as a first lesson: “Be careful about signing up for credit cards”. She, too, was the victim of “campus credit card raiders”, but with a minor intervention from us, canceled the card before anything was charged. My other one lusts after a credit card, but so far…..(she knows we wouldn’t/couldn’t bail her out).

We have a little [a lot] of the Scots in us. We joke about an old saying ’bout Scotsmen: they have deep pockets and short arms

By: Jeff - StretchyDollar

Jeff - StretchyDollar — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 16:25:08 +0000

I forget who mine was from, but it was always spend less than you earn. Simple, but still sometimes hard to follow.