Why publish another blog about money? Don’t we talk about it too much? Well, consider this: Money is just so important to us that many of us work at jobs that we hate, and some of us marry those whom we do not love because we want it. We love to hate celebrities with so much of it. Some of us would cheat on our tax returns, break the law, steal, or risk our lives to get it. It is the number one cause of all marital arguments. It can and has destroyed families, friendships, and lives. We have given it so much power that we can’t stop thinking about it. We worry because we cannot imagine how we would live without enough of it to sustain the lifestyle we want or that we are accustomed to. And given that many of us have so many emotional issues around money, yes, I think another blog about money is appropriate.
The Money Life Café was born from my belief that life should be lived the way one wants to live it. Life should be enjoyed regardless of what your bank statements say or how much money you have in your wallet. A rich, full life can be attained with less than we think.
The Money Life Café will give you cash saving tips and investment ideas - things that we don’t normally think of as investments. There will be discussions about lifestyle changes, thoughts about the important stuff one should be spending money on and posts about very personal money decisions from real people. MLC will provide articles on cheap recipes, affordable gift ideas for the holidays, ways on how to live creatively, and publish ideas about life and money issues. And money stories, because everyone has a money story. So let’s start with mine…
For as long as I can remember, I have always been a money-saver. When I was a kid, I did it because I wanted to have what my cousins had - those cousins my mom labeled as “rich”. These cousins enjoyed huge homes complete with pools and manicured lawns, got all the brand name clothes, drove nice cars, and traveled the world while I watched on the sidelines wanting to live the luxurious, exciting lives they had. I was angry that my parents could not provide me with the decadent lifestyle of my relatives.
My mom would tell me, “Save your money, we’ll put it all in the bank and one day you’ll find yourself rich.” Thus I was convinced that if I saved enough money, I would one day live the good life, too. So wanting so very much what my cousins had, I scrimped and saved everything I could. I’d never spent a cent of the birthday cash I got, I picked up and asked for people’s loose change, I’d do chores for pay and give everything to my mom to deposit in my savings account. It did me no good. When I was eleven, my dad gambled away our lives. The loan sharks came and took our house and all other assets. And of course, what little money I managed to save in the bank my dad took to pay his debts.
I found out the hard way that if I wanted to live like the luxurious life, I’d have to do more than scrimp and save my pennies. I’d have to keep a close eye on my cash and earn a lot of it, too. Well, I found out how difficult it would be to earn it, especially when I immigrated to Canada and became a single parent. It was not easy finding and keeping a job and caring for a toddler at the same time. Thank goodness I had some money-saving skills in my pocket by then (as well a little outside help). But on the whole, through many years of trial and error, the money-saving skills I acquired got me through times of hardship and unemployment.
My wish for living my cousins’ luxurious lifestyles has diminished after many years. I’ve discovered that what’s really important is that I am able to do the things that matter most to me. Even during the times when I had very little income, I managed and live on less and kept more of my hard-earned money to be able to do the things I love.
It is my sincerest hope that what we share here will be of help to our readers be able to keep more of their money to use on the things they truly care about. Thanks and welcome to The Money Life Café.
*I have accompanied this welcome note with nine other pieces to give readers a better idea what we’ll be posting in the future. I hope you enjoy them. And we’ll be posting something every two weeks (although posts may come more frequently in the future). Please subscribe to our feed to make sure you don’t miss out on new items.
Want more real-life Money and Life Experiences? Visit the Money Stories section of this website.
