It’s Only Money; Save It Now

I was tagged by My Daily Dollars as part of the six word financial memoir meme. I am almost ashamed to admit that she did so on April 23rd, a week ago! It’s taken me this long to boil it all down to six words- that’s not very many.

I chose: ‘It’s only money, save it now’ as the six words that best sum up my financial past and future. I grew up with a schizophrenic attitude towards money management. I’ve talked before about what my parents have taught me about money. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard my father say “What the hell, it’s only money.” My mother’s attitude, saver that she is, tends more towards squirreling it away, as best as she can.

Now, as I am just starting to get a handle on handling my money, I think that my father’s devil-may-care attitude isn’t half bad. It’s not that I want to start recklessly slinging my money around, and spending more than I can afford (I’ve certainly gone down that path already), it’s that I think I might sometimes need to take a lighter-hearted approach to my finances. Of course it’s certainly easier to do so when the creditor isn’t banging down your door!

I also think that I’m finally learning to be a saver like my mother. I have a long way to go before I’m as good at it as she is, but little by little, I’m making progress. Part of that is due to a shift in attitude; I’m moving away from an all or nothing mindset to a more balanced way of thinking. I can pay down debt and save at the same time. Part of that is also due to snowflaking; every month a little bit gets set aside for my emergency fund and car loan repayment fund. And when a little bit is set aside every month, it sure adds up.

I don’t think it’s necessarily important to learn new ways of looking at our finances, as long as we can step back and look at our old ways in a new light.