What is your first memory regarding money?

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1. not wanting to throw coins in the fountain bc i didn’t wanna waste money on something that wouldn’t come true

2. Walking along the highway picking up random cans to take to the bottle depot.

3. One that comes to mind. My mom borrowing money from me. Even as a kid Id save my birthday money and cash I’d get from relatives. I thought it was cool that she needed something from me. But looking back she had no mortgage or rent, and a full time job.

   It makes me cringe, since now she is still bad with money.

4. I kid you not, Canadian Tire Money 🇨🇦 I remember being disappointed it wasn’t “real”!

5. How irresponsible my parents are with money which has led to me being overly cautious about spending money and planning for disasters.

6. I think I got a dollar from my grandma in a birthday card and I was really happy because I could buy two whole candy bars with it.

7. Seeing how much car batteries cost and being blown away that they were 100$ and couldn’t believe that my dad was spending that much money on them

8. I cut a dollar bill in half so I could have 2 dollars.

   I wasn’t a smart kid.

9. When I got my first paycheck as a teen I was shocked at how much of it was taken for tax

   That’s when I really thought long and hard about money and work.

10. I really like red things when I was a kid (well I still do). An adult relative tried to give me a brown paper bill but I insisted on the red bill. Everyone laughed because the red one was the higher denomination. I didn’t actually understand different ones are worth different amount of money, I just liked the red one.

11. I wanted to go to McDonald’s, but my mom said she didn’t have money for it at the time. I then told her we could just go to the money-machine (ATM) and get some.

    My mom tried explaining that you needed money in your account to use the ATM, but I didn’t understand. I just wanted a happy meal.

12. My mom being mad at me for not checking price tags when I was young and she took me shopping for school. I would have loved goodwill, but she didn’t want to have to “act poor”. She just wanted a seven year old to have a grasp of what prices are considered expensive for what types of clothing, all while never telling me about finances because “kids should be left out of that”.

    I 100% believed my family was poor growing up until I got to high school and my dad’s family would have the money necessary for me to go on any trips or camps I wanted to.

    Since my mom also believed my dad was cheating and so cheated on him, believed my dad was turning me against her (he never said a word about her except when I’d cry about how she didn’t love me) so tried to turn me against him, and believed I hurt myself to spite her, I’ve come to the conclusion that I probably inherited my bipolar disorder from her, with her experiencing decades of delusions and paranoia.

    At least we weren’t poor?

13. Saving my arse off. My parents used to give us a base amount of pocket money. Then they’d put a chart on the kitchen wall every Sunday night that listed household chores and each one had a monetary value. If we wanted more money, we had to do chores to earn more. My sister and brother barely did any so come Tuesday I’d be asking my parents if I could do more. I also had a paper round twice a week and worked at my aunt’s florists on a Saturday morning. I rarely, if ever, spent any money. I saved tons almost all of it. My folks and grandparents also matched whatever we saved, so if I saved £100 a month, I’d end up having and extra £200 deposited because of them. They really pushed and inspired me to work and save hard.

14. We were at day camp at a park that had a merry go round. Me being the older sister held the money. I only had enough money for one of us to ride. Instead of claiming oldest privilege, I let my sister ride.

15. Book fairs!

16. There was this discount store my mom always went to and she’d give us a small amount of money to spend sometimes. I remember wanting both a small notebook and a glittery bookmark and having to choose.

17. Bringing my piggy bank to the bank on world savings day when I was like 5.

18. Going shopping with my friends at the mall

19. I think I was 4 years old when I learned about taxes and dues, I remember being so pissed off and confused.

20. Put it in my piggy bank and save it.

21. Getting an ATM card and not using it for 4 years because I didn’t know you could buy things with it. I never withdrew money and I didn’t spend my savings on anything.

22. Christmas when I was prolly about 9, i had never had money of my own before. my grandma gifted me 20$ inside a card, i opened it up and my eye’s winded so much my chin started to drop only for me to say “is it real”. Super cute!