Did your family talk about money when you were growing up?
You may have appreciated how your family handled money. Maybe they saved up for what they wanted or made the most of what they had.
You may also remember thinking, "When I grow up, I’m never going to do that." Maybe you didn’t like the stress around bills, or you wished money wasn’t such a difficult subject to talk about.
Either way, those experiences can stay with us. You might follow an example you grew up with, or work hard to do the opposite. Sometimes you don’t realize how much it has shaped your decisions until you stop and think about it.
And even when you decide to do things differently, life can get in the way. You may have promised yourself you would never carry a credit card balance, then had an expense you couldn’t cover any other way. That doesn’t mean you failed. It means your situation changed.
A few questions to think about:
What did I learn about money growing up? What do I want to keep doing? And what would I like to change?
You don’t have to have all the answers today. But understanding where some of your habits came from can make it easier to decide what works for you now.
Written by Lisa Ohnemus
Director and Certified Credit Counselor
Consumer Credit of Des Moines