My money habits

They said that people get their money habits from their background and the kind of cultural baggage that you carry since the moment you are born till now. I think it's true. Let's see what kind of money habits are inculcated in me either subconsciously or directly:

1. I'm thrifty bordering on miserly

My family just had enough, and not much more. Having two boys who are two years apart, my parents must have spent quite a lot on preparing for our education needs. As a result, there's not a lot of excess spent on other things like enrichment or play stuff. I remember I was getting pocket money in secondary school amounting to $60 - $80 and $120 in university, all inclusive. As a result, there isn't any excess to be spent on shopping or trips to orchard road (I didn't go orchard road until army, horrors of horrors...). Most of my meals are settled at home too.



Not a surprise why I turned out to be money conscious. It's a matter of surviving the month with the budget that you're given.



2. I budget and save a lot


My parent gave me a lump sum at the start of the month and I'll have to proportion the amount to be spent on food, transportation, books and stationary. Entertainment and shopping is next to nothing because there isn't much to go around for these. On hindsight, I think it's a good idea to let kids budget their own money - it teaches a lot of value towards money that cannot be learned otherwise. Anyway, because of unexpected events that might arise (suddenly, there might be a need to buy certain books required for school), I've to save up my monthly pocket money for such events. That probably ingrained in me the need to save up in case of rainy days. As for budgeting, I've learned it since young to proportion your money and break it down from months to weeks to days, so that you would not overspend. I didn't keep records of my expenditure at that time, but I mentally record it. For example, if I'd spent a fair bit on food this week, I'll try to cut back on subsequent weeks to live through the month.

3. I treaure my things well

I've a pencil that I bought when I went into JC1 in 1995, and I'm still using that now. All my students knew about it because it's no longer available. Then, I've a red coloured pen that is passed down from my brother to me in primary school, and it's still usable with a few drops of ink inside. I still keep it inside my pencil case for the memory. Unlike other kids, new start of a school year is always unhappy for me. Other kids got to buy new shoes and new books and perhaps new uniform. I've to take hand-me-downs from my brother. My uniform are hand me downs from my brother ever since I'm in primary school, through secondary school and to JC (haha, I went to the same school as him throughout the years). My textbooks are also passed down from my brother. If my parents ever bought me something new, I'll make sure I'll keep it very well simply because it's rare to own something new for me. I think that also explains why I seldom shop. It's just not ingrained in me since young to shop for my own things.

4. I crave for personal freedom

Okay, this isn't exactly a money habit but it's somewhat related. I share a room with my brother since forever, until he got married and moved out. My parents worked from home and was constantly watching over us. Some people might crave for the attention and company but I prefer to have my private space where I could do some thinking and maybe simply doing nothing. As such, my need to have my personal space is very real. When I finally get my own flat, I would never rent a room out to strangers to help supplement my monthly mortgage. I'll rather work harder to pay for it myself. Perhaps because of such intense desire to have my personal space, I'm fiercely independent. A personal space is very very important to me.

I wonder why it's always a pig

I don't despise my childhood and growing up years. It's what made me who I am today. I guess I'll have to be grateful for my parents for bringing me up. It's really pointless to try and compare your life with others who are better because what good can that do. Looking forward, I will have to do a lot of planning to ensure that my child will not be short changed in life. I think everyone parents would want their child to come out ahead of the race and suceed.



I've read newspaper reports that there are preschools that are so hot that even when the fees are doubled to 1.6k per month, the parents still came in droves to enroll. I think it all comes from the desire to want their kids to have a good head start in life. Not easy being a parent huh? I hope I'm in the right kind of line for the next 30-40 years.