Growing up, I lived primarily in two places: Aberdeen, SD, and Wahpeton, ND. (Although I did spend one school year in Montevideo, MN, and eventually graduated from Burke High School in Omaha, NE.)
But the Upper Midwest will always be home to me.
We were a family of five. I have a twin brother and a sister who is 367 days younger than us. My mom and dad have been married for over 50 years. (Here are 60 life lessons I learned from them.)
All that to say, I was blessed with an amazing family and an amazing childhood.
We didn’t have a lot of money. But that childhood taught me some of the most important lessons about money I’ve ever learned. Here are ten:
1. I could buy candy or a toy, but I couldn’t buy both.
Most of economics is about understanding opportunity cost. We make choices every day about our limited resources: how much we will spend, how much we will save, and what we choose to spend it on.
As a child, with a limited number of dollars in my pocket, I was forced to choose. As an adult, I’ve found that credit cards seem to have complicated this math, as they provide the illusion that there are no limitations on our dollars.
But there are always limits. No resource is infinite. Knowing what our financial limits are and learning how to choose what is better within them is an important money lesson that impacts every purchase.
2. If I wanted something nice, I had to save up for it.
It was early in high school that I learned one of the most valuable financial lessons I ever recall learning.
I was out in the driveway playing with a basketball when my dad and twin brother pulled into the garage. Out of the trunk, my brother pulled a brand-new component stereo system that he carried into his room and began setting up.
When I asked him and my dad how he got a new stereo, my dad replied, “He’s been saving up his money.” Within a few minutes, Jerrod was playing Genesis through the speakers in his room.
I was pretty jealous. I had spent my money on purchases that were long gone by then. But I learned a valuable lesson.
If we want to buy something nice, we need to save money to do so.
3. When you receive, give.
I was in elementary school when my parents first started giving us an allowance.
Every Sunday morning, we received 50 cents. It would be sitting on the kitchen table when we came down for church.
More specifically, we were given two quarters. One quarter was for us to keep. And the other quarter was for us to put in the offering plate at church.
How much of a lasting impact can parents really have on their kids when they hand them money just to give away? I’m not sure. But here I am, 45 years later, still thinking and talking about it.
I learned a lesson I’ve never regretted being taught. When we receive, we give first.
4. If I wanted more money, I had to work for it.
When we were still young, my parents instituted a new allowance system (this was after the two-quarter system ran its course). Each of us three kids was able to complete additional chores during the week for an increased allowance. That was the first time I learned that the more work I put in, the more money I’d make.
But it didn’t end there.
I don’t recall when my parents stopped giving us an allowance, but I’m pretty sure it was before junior high school. At that point, I learned even quicker. If I wanted money, I’d have to work for it.
An invaluable life lesson that we all need to learn at some point—and the earlier the better.
5. I didn’t have much, but it was enough.
We never had a lot growing up. I grew up squarely lower middle class to middle middle class. But interestingly, I never felt like we didn’t have enough.
I grew up in a home that was loving, stable, and God-fearing. (It still is.) And somehow that was always enough for me.
There are greater riches than wealth. Money without stability and love is never enough. Love without money always is.
6. A good group of friends is more fun than a lot of stuff.
I never had a lot of stuff growing up, but I always had good friends. And whenever there were friends around, we found something fun to do.
We would ride our bikes for hours, play football in the backyard, organize a game of kick the can in the neighborhood, or just hang out in somebody’s basement. We never had a plan or a collection of supplies, but I never recall running out of things to do.
I’m not sure why as adults we often choose to live the exact opposite. We accumulate more and more stuff—so much that our commitments to care for it all take our time and weekends away from people and relationships.
As an adult, I can fully appreciate that we have more responsibility now. But that doesn’t mean we need to add unnecessary and extra responsibilities along the way.
7. The more effort required to buy something, the less likely I was to buy it.
When I was growing up in Aberdeen, SD, the closest gas station to my house was 0.7 miles away—and along a busy road. Not an impossible bike ride, but not a particularly easy one either.
Which meant that if I wanted to spend my money buying baseball cards or candy, it would be a commitment. I had to decide that not only did I want to buy something, but I was willing to put in the effort to get to the store to buy it.
The friction between my idea and the actual purchase kept the money in my pocket.
Nowadays, life is very different. Any and every purchase can be made with just a few clicks—even furniture, cars, and fine art. In a world where everything is immediately accessible, it is important we design our own friction.
8. Garbage Pail Kids were fun for a moment, but quickly lost their appeal.
I mean, it was pretty fun the first time you saw a Diaper Dan or Adam Bomb card. But they quickly lost their appeal. Just like most stuff we buy.
9. The commercial always looks better than the toy.
1980s commercials had an amazing ability to make their toys and products (and cereal) look incredibly appealing. But from the G.I. Joe aircraft carrier to Lazer Tag to almost everything in between, rarely does the actual product live up to the promises in the advertisement.
Commercials have a way of glamorizing items in a way that convinces us to buy them. And the sooner we realize their end goal, the better we’ll be at seeing through them.
10. There are just some things we can’t afford.
My neighbor had a swimming pool. We never did.
There was a kid in my school whose family had so much money they flew to New Jersey for a Mike Tyson fight. I never did.
I learned as a kid that there were some things we couldn’t afford. There are different ways to internalize this information. We can get jealous and bitter. We can determine that we’re going to change that once and for all and focus intently on ending up with the most. Or, we can decide that there is always going to be someone with more—and that is okay.
There were some things in life we couldn’t afford back then. And there are some things in life I cannot afford today.
I am at peace with that. I don’t need to own everything to find contentment. And that is a wonderful place to be.
Thankfully, just like all of us, I didn’t stop learning after childhood. And there are other lessons about money that I have learned as I’ve gotten older. But almost all of them find their foundation in these ten.
I am grateful to have learned them. And grateful to have the opportunity this week to reflect on them as well.
