Best and worst

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2008
Best and worst
14
Thu, 08-20-2009 - 12:34pm

What is the best and worst money habit you learned from your parents?

Best: from my father, get an education! You can pay for it eventually and it will pay in ten fold back. And no one can ever take it away from you. Plus always have a bit around for a rainy day.

Worst: from my mother. Ostrich factor--In my first marriage I let my husband take care of all the bills and taxes etc. Just like my mother before me. Unfortunately my ex was nothing like my father. Wow was that ever stupid. My ex was(is) a compulsive spender with an over inflated sense of entitlement. I have corrected this habit in my self. I know what is in all of my accounts, what things are worth, when things are due(and I actually pay them) and financial goals and dreams now.

I am sorry. I am having a bad ex day. LOL!


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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-02-1999
Fri, 08-21-2009 - 11:04am

I think it's interesting that in many cases, there seems to be one parent with one attitude about money, and the other parent with the opposite stance. Mine were surely that way, at least in how they expressed it; and DH and I are complete opposites when it comes to money, slowly working our way toward a happy middle ground. :)

My dad was very careful with money; he was a save-then-pay-cash-for-it kind of guy. He also always stressed that it was important to pay yourself first -- whether it was having that e-fund, or retirement, or putting a little away for something you want, always set a little aside for yourself first before you deal with the bills.

My mom, although she went along with dad's philosophy, always expressed it negatively. The way she put it, we were always "on austerity". "You can't have that such-and-such that you want, because we're on austerity." To her, even though we may have been scrimping and saving so that we could get that in-ground pool or go on that family vacation, it was a bad thing -- austerity.










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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-12-2007
Fri, 08-21-2009 - 11:07am

Great post!!


Best:

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-14-2008
Fri, 08-21-2009 - 10:22pm

This is a great post.

The best:
The importance of an education. Like a few other people, university was not an option, it was an expectation, despite the fact that there was no money seet aside for me to go to school.

The worst:
Not to worry too much about setting money aside for education fund. Honestly, my Mom really didn't have extra to put away. But, we could have been putting away a little when my oldest daughter was younger. Now we feel like we are paying catch up.






iVillage Member
Registered: 05-11-2005
Sat, 08-22-2009 - 12:43pm

Hmmmm... good question

Best Habit: Education and always have your own money set aside, don't be dependent on someone else. Also, NEVER cosign a loan.

Worst Habit: Not discussing household finances with the kids. Like someone else, my parents never went over income and outflow so I never had a true idea of what stuff cost and it made for quite an awakening when I had to start fending for myself.

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