*seoulsearch pops in to help derail her own thread for just a minute*
Shine, I can totally relate. My parents have trained me to think about financial planning and responsibility since I could walk.
If I got $20 for my birthday, 10% went to church and then and then half went to the bank. Yeah, I hated it at the time. But they taught me that it's often about simple choices that take a little more work but are worth it in the long run. I try to pack my lunches and make my own iced coffee instead of spending $20 a day on food (a lot of people I know spend at least this and more every day on Starbucks or a Red Bull or both and then some kind of takeout lunch.)
I'm shooting for retirement at 55 (it sneaks up kinda fast, huh... I remember people making fun of me in my 20's because of some of my financial choices.) I might not make it exactly on time (65 is my back-up plan
), and life will probably throw in a few speed bumps along the way, but... things such as being at the car dealership last week and learning I needed something done for $160... and being able to have it done right then and there (because it's an hour drive) without worry because I have an emergency fund just for these types of things... makes it all more than worth it.
I also have a brother who lived at home with my parents for several years after high school... worked 2 full-time jobs, saved everything he could... and bought his first house, at age 26. In cash. (I wonder how many girls called him a loser for living with his parents during that time...)
Haters only hate because they don't have anyone to teach them how to do the same thing (or have the discipline to do it.)
Shine... It's so cool to meet someone else who thinks the same way!!
(We could get together and talk financial strategies... with homemade--to save money, of course
-- tea!
)