SIPEDO SEZ

My mother grew up during the depression.  My grandfather had a great job, so she did not experience the depression the way the more unfortunate did.  Grandpa was a politician of sorts, making a run for Congress, but losing in 1938.  My mom would cut the grass with one of those manual push mowers, and she would get a dollar for doing it.  She would go down to the corner store in the same small town where I grew up, get 5 pieces of candy for a penny and a double scoop ice cream cone for a nickel.  Then she would go see a movie and get a popcorn all for a dime.  She would save the rest.

My mother went to college and would work part time jobs from 1946 to 1955.  She wouldn't spend her money.  Then she married my father in 1960.  Dad liked to spend money, but was very generous to others, and he spent or gave away most of what she could save.  She rarely worked outside of the home, but managed to put aside enough money for my brother and I to have a small trust fund.  When my grandparents died, she put some of her inheritance into our trust funds.

Then came the recession in the late 1970's.  Dad was in his forties, lost his job with Ford, and was virtually unemployable.  We were broke, except for the trust funds she had set up for my brother and I.  When my father's unemployment ran out, my mother went to work but could not make ends meet.  She went to what was then Social Services to get help.  No Help.  Your two children have trust funds, so you do not qualify until that money has been exhausted.  We ended up exhausting those trust funds to support the family.  I did manage to get a bicycle out of the deal.

The rest of my teen years would be spent with our family on some sort of public assistance.  My brother got a job at a car wash on a per car basis.  I got a paper route and eventually at 14 got a job as a dishwasher at a local restaurant working 18 hours a week for $2.75 and hour.  When my brother was 17, he quit high school to work full time.  Because my brother quit high school, all public assistance was cut off.  My brother and I carried the financial weight of supporting our parents until they would qualify for social security in 1989.  Even on Social Security my mother was able to save money, since my aging father did not spend like he used to.  When my parents passed, despite all of the hardships, they were able to leave a combined total of over $100K to my brother and I.

I think I inherited some of my father's spending habits and generosity, and my brother got my mom's saving habits.  Funny thing though,  my brother owes ME money.

So, when I hear people say they can't save money?  It sounds to me like they "won't" save money.  So forgive me if I say: I wonder just how foolish they really are.