Money Money Money

I never knew that things were tight when I was a child. I had everything that my little heart desired and the stress of running a home of eight children never affected me. I am grateful that my parents handled those times of financial tightness in such a way that I never felt worried or scared about the future of our family. However I was taught the importance and concept of money as my parents would show us how to buy the better deals while shopping, or telling us kids that we could not buy pizza because it cost too much money. I realized that money had to be earned and used with smart choices. I also new that we worked together as a family to make our household function. We had a family paper route growing up that brought in extra money and it was expected of us to wake up and help on certain days that were assigned.We also all worked in the garden to grow many fruits and vegetables that in turn ended up on our dinner table to eat. We were expected to do chores with the understanding that this was our part to help the family work. We were paid money for larger projects on occasion and this money that we earned taught us how to spend and use money. We were taught to always first pay tithing, then save a little for a "rainy day" and then we could plan or budget what ever we wanted to do with the rest.

These valuable lessons that I never realized learning while in the moment are so important and make all the difference now that I am in college. I have to plan a budget and stick to it in order to pay for school and my needs and I must work for the things that want. I am so grateful for parents who taught me not only the value of money and how to use it but also the value of work and that being in a family means teamwork.