The Truth About Money
Money is the current medium of exchange that many countries use to allow citizens to purchase items. However, what does money really mean to us as individuals? Well, for me my earliest memory of money was my grandfather telling me to save my money for a rainy day. As a six-year-old child, I never knew what that statement really meant. Every weekend my grandparents would pick me up and I would spend the weekend at their house. Upon coming back home they would always give me a few dollars and my grandfather would tell me to save my money for a rainy day. One day, I decided to go to the grocery store with my grandfather. While we were in the checkout line I looked outside and saw that it was raining. So, I picked up a candy bar and said, “Hey, Pop-pop, it’s raining today, so I can buy this candy bar!” He instantly started laughing and told me the meaning of saving your money for a rainy day. It simply means to save your money and not to spend it all in one place. That was the day I learned that you cannot take every saying literally.
I was raised in an urban metropolitan city on the East coast. When I was growing up as a child in Baltimore, I never felt as if my family lacked money. My mother was a single mother and raised three girls. She always kept a roof over our heads and the refrigerator was always full. She made us dinners throughout the week and we had three meals a day on the weekends. She would give my sisters and me her extra change to buy snacks from the lunch line, when a dollar could go a long way.
Over the years, I learned all the struggles my mother went through, and that now has impacted the way I view money and what it means to me. Upon starting high school, I started envisioning the life I wanted to live. One of my favorite summer TV shows was “My Super Sweet Sixteen.” I often told my mother that I wanted to have a huge sweet 16 party, just like the one on TV. Little did I know these were the kids of celebrities and this was far out of our price range.
As a young adult now at 25, I feel that money is very important. I need money to live in order to feel comfortable in some respects... or to have a nice home... or to just be able to do certain things. I’ve worked hard to achieve a status where I feel I can be somewhat comfortable. I plan to continue to move forward, to make more money, ultimately, so I can have more money for myself, for my future family...to be able to buy a home and just to live freely like I want to.
I’m currently happy with my financial status. I graduated from nursing school last year. It’s been a little over six months since I’ve been working in the field as a nurse and I do feel that I’m able to afford the things that I like. I’m comfortable in my living situation now. Before, I wasn’t so much. Now I’m able to buy gifts for friends and family for special occasions. I’m able to just be more generous with my money for people and be able to pay for certain things without looking for someone to repay me the $20 I lent them. I simply feel more financially secure at this point in my life.
I don’t feel guilty about the money I have because I worked really hard to be well- positioned to be able to earn it. I read my bank statements, keep up with my bank account, and count what I have so my money is managed well. I don’t take risks with money...I’m just not a risk taker because I’m not a gambler. If I ever go to a casino, I may waste $20, but that’s about it! I’m not the kind of person that’s going to spend $500 in a casino trying to up it to $1000. That’s just not my personality. But I don’t worry about money either, because I know it’s going to continue to come.
If I needed help to pay my rent, I would definitely ask a member of my family or maybe a close friend to help me out. I would be grateful if they were to help me out; but I would want to pay them back. I wouldn’t want to just have them pay me money or give me rent because then I would feel a little bad about the situation...if I wasn’t able to afford my rent.
If I have money and needed to help a friend the way I’d feel about paying more than my fair share for them, let’s say they spent the money I gave them on something extravagant... I guess how I’d feel about that would depend on the friend and the situation, because the reason I’d be paying more for my friend matters to me. If I’m helping them out and they’re trying to get back on their feet, then I wouldn’t feel bad paying more than my share. But if we are doing the same thing - they have a job like I have a job, and they make around the same salary as me - then I feel we should pay an equal share. And if I were paying more for rent, then I’d want them to at least keep the house clean. I don’t want to come home to a filthy house. And I feel if I’m paying more money and taking on more financial responsibility, I would want them to take on more responsibility to keep our house clean.
“ I feel like my work schedule (which is not an excuse) coincides with my ability to go to church more often.”
I do tithe...but then again, I don’t. I feel like my work schedule (which is not an excuse) coincides with my ability to go to church more often. Like, either I’m working on a Saturday night and I get off on Sunday morning, and I could go to church, but I’m just too tired. Or, when I’m due at work on a Sunday evening, I just want to rest up to prepare for my shift. However, when I do go to church, I do tithes and contribute to other offerings. When you’re a part of a church, it’s important to support its growth. The money I give helps my church continue to run and pay its bills. So, I don’t have any bad feelings about tithing. I do think that God wants us to sow what we can into the church where we worship Him, so I don’t have any problem with tithing or giving the church money.
I haven’t made out a will yet. I just started my career and I haven’t gotten around to doing that. But I plan to at some point. Just need a little more time.
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