AMUSING

 Only the POOR people know how to live 

on a budget...

When I was being raised by my parents in Alexandria, VA in the 1950's and 1960's, my mother stayed at home and my father was the only one who worked to earn money although my mother worked just as hard in the home everyday.

I am not sure if my father did not trust banks or had something else on his mind but every time he got paid, he would cash his check, bring the money home and put so much money into a variety of envelopes that I suppose he had pre-calculated.  Those envelopes were kept in a metal lock box that he kept in the closet.

I don't know exactly the designation of each envelope, but I know there were envelopes for:

• food
• mortgage
• utilities
• shoes
• misc.
• emergency
• medical
• clothes
• vacations
• birthdays...  etc.

It was my mother's responsibility to take whatever money was in the envelope and make it last until the next paycheck was cashed.  I vividly recall, my mother taking money out of the envelope to buy me a pair of tennis shoes for the summer and was told they had to last me all summer...  and, when they got torn or run down, I wore them anyway because that was the deal.

My parents NEVER BORROWED MONEY...  except for maybe the house...  but, we always saved up money for a car and my dad always paid cash.

It was only when my Dad's Paycheck started to exceed what we needed each month, that my parents began to borrow money and do things on credit.

Being retired is a lot like being poor especially since my wife and I only have a limited amount of money each month and that money has to last us until our next Social Security Check is deposited.  However, we do borrow money but only that amount that we can pay off buy the end of the month...  credit is more of a convenience than it is a luxury...  plus, one of our credit cards gives us frequent flyer points of Delta.

The poorer one is, the more one is able to manage their money...  we should all be poor and maybe our country would not be in the financial trouble that it is currently in.