RAISING A FINANCIAL SMARTIE PANTS

Ever ask yourself, "How did I end up this way?"  Well, one of our members did, and decided to say a big thank you to
her parents.  Here's why:

What was wrong with my parents!?  How could they have been so selfish that they required me to buy my own school
clothes out of my $0.50-an-hour babysitting money, fund my own after-school junk-food binges, pay for my own college,
and pay for my own car and insurance?  I wore a uniform to school and my brother's hand-me-downs for play.  Both of 
my parents worked, so we kids learned to do our chores quickly and well so they could relax a bit when they got home.

While I found paying for my own stuff a drag at times, I swear I would not trade the experience.  While in college,
it got downright painful, yet I started school with four other girls (whose parents all paid their ways) and I was
the only one to finish.  I worked my way through it by slinging chow in pizza joints and for some years owned
little more than my books. Many a month's rent was paid for in quarters.

When I eventually got married, I borrowed a dress and got married in our furniture-less apartment. We received
three wedding gifts and have just celebrated our 18th year together.

I didn't do these things because I was cheap--I was poor, baby!  And in return, and by taking a few risks, I
finally ended up with a job earning almost $100,000 a year, for an organization that sent me for a master's degree
for two years at Syracuse, with a pension that will outlive me.

I am not bragging!  I just hope one person reads this and understands that earning something--even the hard
way--makes it so much more precious.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

The Motley Fool
Personal Finance
Wednesday November 5, 2003
http://www.fool.com