What my dad taught me about Saving

I was thinking of a good topic to write an article that talked about saving, first thought to write about saving in the bank , then on mutual funds , then I thought to write about the handling of notes and fixed maturities . But after much thought, I found that the best ideas are right before your eyes, but the trouble is we cannot see because we want to remove them to see what is beyond.

Ideas to save, do not come from the major financial, or account executives of the banks , I think the best way to save come from the wisdom of the family . In the relatives can find people who spend a lot , but also those who know how to save .

In my family, my dad and my grandmother were the people who taught me the benefits of saving and some of its greatest “secrets”. I hope, like them, that I can teach in my children the habit of saving , in the same way they did me.

The truth is that there is not much complication in the form of saving, it is really hard to start doing it and generate the habit without falling into greed and become stingy, sacrificing the necessities of life.

The first thing my dad was when I was born I opened a bank account and end of each month , 20 dollars deposited in the account. That may not sound like much, but if I say that there were 4 brothers and each one did the same thing to me think I should have to deposit 80 dollars each every month

 Let us make some mathematical:

20 dollars x 12 months is $ 240 per year.

240 for 12 years means that upon reaching the age of majority had collected $ 2.880 only capital plus interest that the money generated through time .

The most important thing to get those savings when I was 12 years , was the great record that my father had during those 12 years . My dad would say ” save your money for when you need it , not when I want.”

I always thought “where you can a child save; where I can get money for savings?” . As time passed and when I entered elementary school, I was also finding how much could I save and put it in the account that my dad had opened. And the first way where I could find savings , was that my parents gave me money for my lunch in my kindergarten.

They gave me 1 dollar daily for refreshments, a cake and a aciditas , sometimes changed by fried cake or potatoes .

But one day I discovered that if instead of spending my money I could eat some lunch that I brought from my home, I could save those 1 dollar a day on the bank. At first it was very hard, because I saw how my friends bought chips, cakes and refreshments during the break and I just ate what I brought from home, and sometimes I forgot and did not eat anything. Maybe that’s why I began to play football, first because I liked it, but also not to think that I was hungry , but after a few weeks I got used and was very easy to do .

Imagine, 5 dollars saved in the bank every week , were 100 dollars a month ! ! a fortune for a child of 8 years .

Over time, I started looking for other places where I could save money and save. And I found I could ask my grandparents and parents that on my birthday, instead of gifts they could give me money. There I found another source of annual savings. Sometimes I’d get to take it to my bank account of the money you could save during one year.

Of course I spent it all when we went on a trip to USA. But definitely what my dad and my grandmother taught me about savings marked me and thanks to it  I am now better.