Yes, my siblings and I all did well in school so college was always seen as a natural next step. Each of us was expected to pay for one year of tuition and my parents would pay for the other three years, which was a good way to teach us to be cost-conscious, while also giving us a lot of financial support. I paid off my student loans approximately four years after graduating. I also just recently received my master’s degree, which was paid for with a combination of savings, employer support, and scholarships.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
My parents were always very proud of the life they’d created for our family with very little money. They started a business shortly after I was born that took much longer than they’d anticipated to break even, let alone make money, so while their own upbringings were mostly middle class, our family lived on very little. My parents were big on teaching us to appreciate free or low-cost fun such as hiking or camping, which is something that I carry with me to this day. They also were very open about having conversations such as what it meant to “keep up with the Joneses,” which has helped me maintain a grounded perspective about money as I’ve grown up.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
My first “unofficial” job was doing gardening and landscaping for family friends freshman year of high school. I loved gardening and getting my hands dirty so getting paid for it felt like a bonus. Naturally, this led to my first “official” job during my junior year of high school, which was at a retail garden center. It was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had — if I ever reach a place in life where I feel burned out and need a break from work, I’d probably try to find something like that again.
Did you worry about money growing up?
No — we always had what we needed. My parents have told my siblings and I a lot more in recent years about how rocky their financial situation was during our childhood, but they worked hard to make sure we never felt their stress.
Do you worry about money now?
No, but it has taken a lot of work to get here. I live in a high cost of living city and have had to meticulously track my budget ever since I moved here almost 10 years ago. In the beginning it was mostly due to having a low starting salary as an entry-level worker; as I started to make more money, I took the leap to live in my own studio apartment, which came with a new set of expenses. More recently, I’ve had to track carefully as I’ve saved and paid for grad school and my wedding. Despite life’s evolutions, I’ve continued to live very frugally — I don’t order takeout, I buy all my clothes secondhand, I lived car-free for many years, etc. I used to worry that there would come a time when I’d be sick of having to be so money-conscious and ultimately want more. It’s taken several years of perspective to realize that since I’m never going to be a billionaire, there will always be some sort of choice or tradeoff to make regarding how you want to use money to maximize your happiness at any given point in your life. It’s also given me perspective that the choices I make about money are largely about comfort and lifestyle rather than survival. Because of my privileged upbringing, the safety net that my family continues to offer me via their proximity, and my own financial situation, I’m unlikely to find myself in a situation where I can’t meet my basic needs of food, shelter, and safety. That perspective has allowed me to quell any worry that I once had about money and stay grounded in terms of how little any money stress I may feel really matters.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I became financially responsible for myself after graduating from undergrad at 22; while I lived at my parents’ house for a few months rent-free, I ultimately chose to move out and from then on paid all my bills myself. I live within an hour’s drive of my parents (as well as many other relatives) so in many ways their proximity serves as my financial safety net as I could always live at their house rent-free if I needed to.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
As mentioned above, my parents paid for three of the four years of my undergrad education. They also bought me my first car, which I used to commute to summer internships and my first few years of work after college.
