I grew up in a small town in Texas, my mother was a stay-at-home mom and my father began as a hired-hand for his uncle, progressing to leasing farmland to farm, then finally a seed salesman for farmers, later expanding that business to a farm equipment servicer.
I never knew this while we were little, but mom told me recently we qualified for free lunches at school in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. I never felt like we were that poor. I knew things were tight, but I don’t remembering feeling poor. There was always talk about “thrift”. We would go with mom and my grandmother to garage sales on Saturdays (they loved it!) and we found some good hand-me down toys that way. We didn’t need much, anyway. We had bikes, roller skates, rollerblades, a dog, some cats and kittens, so we were plenty entertained. I loved watching the baby kittens being born and mama cat cleaning them up. I loved watching them stumble around with their eyes closed for several days. We had a great childhood. We would go out with my dad to the farm and “help”. We would go fishing or do whatever we could to entertain ourselves.
I remember my mom being excited about paying off their home in our little small town. Her parents built the 1500 sq. ft home, a 3/2 in our little town of about 1,500 people. They paid it off while I was in high school or maybe while I was in college. I remember her being very excited about it. I also remember conversations about not being able to afford my college tuition as the market was crashing in 2000. I was to graduate high school in 2001 and the local agriculture business was being hit by the crash and corn prices were in the dumps at that time.
I did not have to take loans for my first 5 year bachelor's degree. I declared late because I couldn’t decide what discipline in health care I wanted to enter (med school, PT school, nursing school, etc). I felt called to nursing to spend more time with the patients. So, off to an accelerated secondary degree program I went, which was just down the road at the same institution I earned my first degree. It was an intensive 1 year program, with three semesters and a one-on-one RN coaching experience. It included 17 hours of classes per week and 20 hours of clinical time with your RN coach on the floor to which we were assigned. It was an exhausting year! My parents told me they would pay for my first degree, but not my second, which was fair. I could have had my BSN by the time I had my first degree. I took out about $30,000 in student loans for nursing school that year.
All the while, I remember my mom talking about paying off their debts and how excited they were becoming as they saw their net worth increasing. She would mention Dave Ramsey and his methods for establishing financial freedom.
I graduated my nursing program and got to work about a month after some time off. I was hired on the floor on which I did my training. After all, they trained me, so they knew me and I was very comfortable working with them and knew the patients well. I don’t even remember having a true interview! I basically came into my manager’s office and she asked me questions to discuss benefits, vacation time and asked if I wanted 72 hours per 2 week pay-period or 84 hours? I opted for 84, since I was young, had no family yet and needed to pay off loans. So, I got to work, working 12 hour night shifts (also better to do when you’re young!). The other advantage of night shifts was I was too tired to spend too much money! I was awake late into the nights and slept until noon, usually. It also worked well for my natural night owl circadian rhythm, which is still true today. Anyway, I was able to save money and begin paying down my loans.
In my and my siblings’ younger years, I remember my mom teaching us about saving and spending. I remember we had three jars in which we had to put our money: spending money; short-term savings and long-term savings. Mom kept the savings jars so we didn’t spend it. I’m not sure how long this system went on—maybe just a summer. She also had us get a checking and savings account and taught us how to reconcile bank statements. We received an allowance for a few years, but some of us (one, only one!) wouldn’t do his chores, so none of us received an allowance anymore! : ) But, we still had to do chores. Every weekend, we would clean the house. I was the last child to leave home, so my jobs took over a few of the others. I didn’t mind, however. I enjoyed cleaning and the sense of accomplishment it provided. I still do! Besides, we didn’t have the internet to entertain us all hours of the day, so we had to fill our time somehow. : ) I would also mow at times, for my dad. I would mow or clean for family members, who would pay me. Dad would pay me to clean his office or shop downtown. I could wash their cars for money or sometimes I would just do it because it needed to be done. I never liked things to be dirty!
One summer I worked at the snow-cone stand for my track coach. My folks bought the video store in town, then another in the neighboring town. I would work there a few days a week. I still remember the jingle of the bell on that door. My parents also bought the local carwash (before drive-throughs were everywhere). I would help dad keep an eye on that at times, also. I always liked having some money and I actually liked to work and feel useful.
When I went to college, I didn’t work during the year, until the last few years. I would always have a summer job, but I was in many science and chemistry classes, which took much of my time to study. My chemistry background was basically non-existent, so I had to work hard to catch up. My first college summer job was a waitress in a Sheraton hotel and actually did well on room service tips. I got a temp job at Mervyn’s, taking care of the dressing rooms and re-hanging and folding the clothes. I ditched that job when I landed my dream college job of being a barista at one of the local favorite coffee shops in my college town. I still miss those days. My hands would smell like gourmet coffee, especially at Christmas when everybody would come in to buy coffee beans for gifts. It was a great job! I did that job for about three years and quit while I was in nursing school.
I worked my first nursing job for just shy of two years. I had been in my college town for about ten years at that point, and it was time to move on. So, I applied to become a traveling nurse and waited for a job to the Bay Area. I got my first assignment there for six weeks, then to Sacramento for 3 weeks, then felt pulled back to the Bay Area, so I waited for another job at the institution I had previously worked at. One finally came open after a few weeks and I was there for an additional ten years. I just resigned that position, after we moved to our dream home in the mountains. It is interesting that my life stages seem to happen in years of 10.
As I have mentioned in my previous blog post, after my husband and I married in 2012, I began researching financial freedom. My mother pointed me to Dave Ramsey and I read Total Money Makeover. We had already met some of the baby steps but he pointed us in the right direction and the testimonials were very motivating. Dave discusses “gazelle-like intensity”, which still echoes in my head when I’m combing over our finances to this day, about eight years later. This book helped us establish a system of goals to reach for, as well as a financial system framework to establish.
I was still wanting for more information after Dave’s book and his radio show. His information is very foundational and I was ready for us to begin building wealth. I read the Millionaire Next Door, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Think and Grow Rich, and others, but these were the most inspiring and eye-opening. However, now I needed more information on investing. I began searching for blogs and podcasts, coming across first the Mad Fientist, Mr. Money Moustache, Paula Pant, Stacking Benjamins, Choose FI. These guys and gals have helped us gain confidence in basic investing in the market and now, we are looking for our first rental to begin the next phase. I listen to all of the above and a couple of Bigger Pockets’ podcasts to keep my mindset on moving forward and keen on learning new information and skills from those who have experience.
My husband grew up in different circumstances. They were not rich, but they were more stable middle class, as opposed to borderline poverty level, like my family when I was young. I will discuss his experience (also very interesting) in another post. I will also interview both of my parents regarding their stories. They are now multi-millionaires after years of hard work and careful planning.
The point to remember here is, there is opportunity before you to begin now, to reach financial independence or, at least, financial security. I credit my parents for a great head start and fostering a supportive environment. They are also a testimony to beginning with no head start, no gifted inheritance or VC money, to create financial freedom through growing their businesses. My net worth was negative when I began my first job. It was $-27,000 and then I borrowed for a car for another $27k, after my down payment and trade-in, so my then net worth was $-54,000. When my husband and bought our home, our net worth became about negative $240,000. We are now in the multi-millionaire club, as well. Some of this was luck, as in our home purchase. Much of it was goal-setting and intentionally putting our money to work.
How has your financial education, or lack thereof, effected your current financial situation?
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