I live in a middle-class family. As all those middle-class people out there know, the middle-class is a strange place to be. One month, your parents are doing fine. You're comfortable and average. The next, your household is in a penny-pinching uproar of panic and wondering how on earth you're going to pay the mortgage this month. Somehow, everything seems to work out in the end.
In my family, we're very open to discussing the mistakes my parents have made with money, and how my brother and I can avoid them. Some of these mistakes include credit card debt, car payments, investing in a home during the height of the market, student loans, etc. Of course, they're all the better for it, and those mistakes have made them stronger and wiser, just as all mistakes do. My goal is to establish good habits with money at this stage in my life so that when I reach adulthood, I can live a relatively comfortable and healthy lifestyle, without too much fretting and debt to pay off.
At this point in my life, I'm a cheapskate. I cringe when I have to break a $20, I hoard and mooch off of gift cards, and I very rarely buy things at full price. These habits are both good and bad in some ways, but I'm trying to find a balance.
Over the next year, I'll be gaining independence; I'll have my driver's license, I'll be opening a savings/checking account, I'll be able to get a job, and I'm brainstorming various ways to begin making money. (Hooray freedom - like a big, juicy steak) But with every bit of freedom comes responsibility; handling my own money, saving for a car, and all those sorts of things will also be slapped onto my plate. Lots of vegetables with that big, juicy steak!
But vegetables keep us healthy. And the more you eat them, the more you start to like them. So let's hope that by the end of this school year, I will have enjoyed a hearty balanced helping of steak and veggies - freedom and responsibility - and that I won't be off balance from consuming more of one than the other.
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