A Great Financial Lessen Learned
When I was in third grade my mother and father took me to the bank to open up a checking account. Many kids my age had an allowance at that time. Many other kids were just given most every thing they asked for. My parents set up a plan with me. I would get paid $100 a month if I worked 10 hours at our sporting goods store, on our farm with Grandpa, or doing chores at home. That is a lot of money for a 3rd grader, so I was excited.
Then I learned that there was a catch. From the $100 I was first responsible to tithe 10%, leaving me with $90. After that I was responsible for my clothes, special school supplies, cost of hanging with friends, and anything else my heart desired. My parents would still provide the essentials of food, shelter, and transportation. I learned quickly that the $90 didn’t go very far when it came to buying clothes, a Sony Play Station, or the super cool Doctor Grip Pencils that were $7 a piece but made all the other kids jealous of what you wrote with (and gave you an A+ on every assignment lol). Needless to say, I had to learn how to budget my money at an early age to make it last. There are no credit cards for 3rd Graders.
I learned that the small things can add up quickly. If I bought a pop (coke if you are from Texas), at that time that was usually $1. If I bought one every day, that was $365 in a year, enough to buy a Super Nintendo and some really cool games. At that time my foster brother was also saving up for a car, but couldn’t afford one and had to drive our beat up Yellow Boat of a Mercury Marquee. I wanted a “cool” car when I turned 16 so I asked my dad how I could make more money faster.
He told me that I could work more hours, or do extra every month. He also said that I could invest it. We talked about some ideas of what a 4th grader could invest in. I bought some drawing supplies and tried to sell pictures I drew at the store. Turns out I wasn’t a very good artist and I sold 2 pictures for .25 cents a piece. Soon after that my Grandpa said that he would invest in a cow with me. I ended up spending $400 on a cow in March. In September the cow had had a calf that was ready to go to sale and we sold that first calf for $425 and I got to keep the cow. Well this was a nifty concept. I got my money back and I still owned something that was worth something. Over the years I ended up owning 5 cows that had several calves. Not to mention that because it was Grandpa’s farm my cows could “never” die (think about that for a little bit).
With the help of certain investments and my parents, I was able to purchase my first car a 1996 Chevy Blazer with sweet rims, a cattle guard, and some cool fog lights. Though the investments helped out a lot, I don’t think that is where the majority of the money came from.
I feel the most important thing I had learned from 3rd grade on was to monitor what was being spent. It is so easy to say that $1 isn’t that much when buying that pop. Or that $5 for that cheap Walmart DVD isn’t that much. But $1000 dollars is only 1,000 pops, and I’ll bet many people drink many that in a year. The lesson I learned was to be frugal.
Frugality is not about being cheap. There is an importance to buying nice things that work and will work for a long time. However, are you paying as much attention to the small things that you are buying, as you would for the large things. For example, say you’re a smoker, 1) smoking isn’t good for you and could cost you lots in health care, but 2) it costs to do. One pack of cigarettes a day is on average $5, which in a year is around $1825. Is there something that you would/could do with that money that would be more productive or beneficial to: you, your family, or God? It all adds up. What are the little things your’re purchasing? Pop? Alcohol? Clothes - Just because it is “on sale” doesn’t mean you “have to have it”!
That is just one example. Many times taking a look at what you are already spending money on and editing that could find you lots of extra dollars to pay off debt, or help you to save for something special. That mindset helped me to get through college with minimal debt. It has helped me to save money on cars by paying cash. Most of all it has allowed me to help others when they need it! After all, the sooner you learn that everything you have is God’s anyway, the sooner you’ll realize none of these worldly things go with you when you turn to dust.
I don’t want money to become your idol by this reflection, and for you to think and stress about it all the time. However, I do want you to realize that God blesses us with what he gives us. #1 give him back your best through tithing if you are a Christian. But #2, make sure that you are being a good steward of the blessings that he has given you. Don’t worry about trying to live to today’s social standards (spending $3 for every $1 earned). If you do the math, today’s standards don’t give you a very good test grade when it comes to simple subtraction.
Ultimately, I pray that this helps at least one person to wake up and realize what they are spending money and time on. Wake up enough to start to analyze and edit their expenditures to really only spend money and time on what matters. In the words of Craig Groeschel – “Just because you ‘could’ do something doesn’t mean you ‘should’ do it.” Let go of the the things that you invest in that really don't matter.
“Better is one handful with tranquility than 2 handfuls with toil and chasing
after the wind.” – Ecclesiastes 4:6
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” – Hebrews 12:1
If you have links, success stories, or little tricks that help you, please comment as such! It has always been on my heart to help others improve their financial outlook. I am a huge supporter of Dave Ramsey and his message of becoming debt free! I also support living on what they call a 10-10-80 plan!
Dave Ramsey - http://www.daveramsey.com/home/
10-10-80 Plan - http://changecounts.com/10-10-80-rule-of-investing.html
With Passion, Love, and Respect,
Matthew R. Schultz
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