Too cool to save

Remember how in high school, if you were really into studying and getting good grades, you were somewhat of a pariah among the cool kids?

If you were really into math or if you weren’t interested in going to underage keggers every weekend, you were probably seen as someone in the nerdier realm of the high school sea, because all the cool kids bragged about how stupid they were in [insert subject here].

…and if you DIDN’T experience the above, then you and I went to very different high schools. Yours was probably way more enlightened than mine 😛

I feel like as adults we now recognize how silly that attitude is to brush off school as a waste of time, but then we go and do other equally irrational things.

Such as what, FB?

Other than the obvious things like wearing your pants so low everyone can see your boxers, or wearing tights as pants with nothing covering the naughty bits… I am talking about NOT learning how to manage your money.

Or shrugging when someone asks what you’re going to do about retirement.

Or giving people a blank stare when they ask you how much you’ll put down on your new home, or heck.. how you’re going to pay for it!

As adults, it might be seen as acceptable that you have no clue how to budget and no idea what anything really costs in the short and long term, but that is just silly!

It is never too late to ask about your money, nor to:

• learn how to budget
• know where your money goes each month
• plan your future retirement
• save money for emergencies
• buy in cash instead of on credit or ‘buy now, pay later’ plans
• know where to put your money

I am saying all of this because of something that just happened recently.

Earlier this year my parents had been hinting pretty heavily about a certain child of theirs (*cough*me*cough*) paying for some luxurious trip to Europe of their dreams.

NEVER MIND that they’ve never asked for more than a simple $7 dinner from my other siblings, no no… they wanted me to shell out $20,000 to pay for first-class air tickets and 5-star hotels.

I bluntly told my parents they made very healthy salaries (nearing the 6 figures), and they had more than enough to save for the trip, as the house is almost paid off and they don’t need much.

I told her to stop spending so much on crap like eating out, buying expensive kitchenware and just set aside $1000 a month from her salary to save up for that trip.

I think I gave them a little heart attack with that response, seeing as I am generally very generous with my parents.

I buy them anything they really need and I deem to be useful such as:

• 1TB hard drives to back up their data
• Laptop and all accessories
• Gloves, Socks.. any kind of clothing I think they’d find comfortable and warm
• (offered) to buy a new TV to replace their old one (they declined)

And any time we go out, I refuse to let them pay for me.

I also do a lot of errands for them such as fix their computer (my father keeps downloading viruses by accident), and I run all over town to find things my parents want/need because they don’t have time to do it themselves.

I also pay for all the groceries in the house when I’m there, and BF generously makes gourmet meals for them, sometimes even upon request (they love his short ribs).

Thankfully, my hard stance paid off.

My parents announced to me today that they are going to save $1000 a month until they have $10,000 saved and then they’ll use that money to go to Europe on their own.

I am so proud of them, I almost burst all over the kitchen floor.

Once they have all of the money saved, and I know they’re going… as a bonus, I’m going to give them each $500 to spend.

This is not because I feel guilty for telling them they couldn’t go on my dime or whatever, but it’s the first time I’ve seen them plan for a purchase and budget towards it.

I want to encourage this kind of behaviour.

Gee… sounds a lot like I’m the parent here huh? 😛

IF MY PARENTS AND I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU

So there you have it folks.

Don’t shrug the next time someone asks you a simple question about your budget, or how you’re going to afford something.

Get informed. Learn about your money, figure out what your goals are and save for them.

Who knows, you might even end up loving the freedom that comes along with knowing you have your financial house in order.