Memories of my parents and budgeting

I was watching a good programme on T.V. which comes on right after the noon news here in Hamilton, Ontario.

It is about a woman financial expert who does housecalls to people having difficulty with credit cards and lines of credit and in general, who do not know how to manage on what they have, but live on money they don't have!

I just love this programme and when I am home, I watch it all the time.

It reminds me of my parents and how they were a good example to us children when we were young, putting us on a budget ourselves.

It went like this. More than 50 years ago, 50 cents a week was good money for an allowance. On that allowance, I had to budget for my stockings, church, and other things which I don't remember. I also cleaned the downstairs lavatory for $0.25 more.

They taught me how to put the money into envelopes and how to keep track of money.

I will always remember them sitting at their little desk, under the stairs, working on the household budget together. My father was, in many ways, a liberated man, especially for his generation. He and my Mom shared all the decisions together and my Father faithfully brought in the income and my Mother was like the captain of her little household, administering it well.

We never went without food or shelter, we were all educated and the church was an important part of our lives together. We always went to the country cottage each summer, which my father and my Grandfather built themselves. We also went down to Florida most summers as my Dad loved to travel. In their later years together, before my Mother died, they enjoyed many trips together.

He and my Mother, whose job it was to care for the family, used to manage the money available faithfully, never forgetting to give money to help others when they could.

How fortunate I was to have such a good example in my young life.

I was so blessed to have them as parents.