Five money tips from my mother

I’ve been thinking lately about where we get our ideas and values from. For me, a lot comes from my mother, so I thought I would reflect on what I learnt from her about money. Although my mother never had much money – or perhaps precisely because she didn’t have much money – she set a great example with her amazing attitude to money.

These are the 5 top money tips I learnt from my mother:

Always budget together as a family, even with the children. They are never too young. That way, everyone knows how much money there is and everyone takes responsibility for the spending decisions.
Identify what you need and save for it. Only buy it once you have saved the money and avoid debt.
Always have a slush fund for emergencies. No matter how small, keep a little something stashed away.
No matter how broke you are, always have peanut butter, toilet paper and cheap wine.
No matter how broke you are, always help others in need.

It was quite simple really!

My grandpa taught us that what you put out into the universe will come back to you. If you share and help people, someone will help you when you are in need.

It’s been really interesting reflecting on this. It’s helped me to solidify what is important to me when it comes to money. I really like those values and I want to live them, both because I believe in them and because I want my children to see me making wise money choices. My personal goal is to ensure I consciously live by them.

Of course she did some silly things too, but luckily I don’t seem to have absorbed too many of those!

In my next column I am going to reflect on Christmas gifting and decorations. No matter how much disposable income you might be lucky enough to have, we should try to consume less, spend less, and think about Christmas gifting differently. Well, it’s worth a try!

Donna