First Financial Advice

Cash Money Life has the results of a very intriguing question: "What was the first piece of financial advice you ever received?"

http://cashmoneylife.com/2009/02/04/what-was-the-first-piece-of-financial-advice-you-ever-received/

I was amazed at how many of these mentioned saving 10% of your earnings. My first advice was from my parents -- Dad only went as far as eighth grade in school, and Mom completed a year of nursing school (and college) before dropping out. They said, "Put half away for college, tithe 10%, save 10%, and you can spend the rest."

By the time I started college, I had roughly $2000 saved for it...and that was back at 1976 prices. With my folks' help, and working any part-time job I could find, it got me through both college and grad school debt-free. (Husband's case was different...even with the GI Bill, we still ended up paying back $10,000. But even that wasn't too bad.)

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I had my own share of financial bad news this morning...a royalties check from CRAZY QUILTS was, I thought, supposed to hit Chez Brick this week. And, in its turn, pay off a bunch of membership, subscriptions, advertising, etc. that always come due the first of the year.

I misread the fine print. The check won't come until the end of this month. That means lean living -- quilt teachers just don't have that many gigs in the early winter. And somehow figuring out how to cover these bills. Fortunately, since things are bit quieter this time of year, my staffers took January and a few weeks of February off. (Snowboarding calls.) It means I cover their work -- but I don't have to pay their salaries.

It's not the end of the world. Our living expenses are covered. We have lots of groceries stashed away. (I can't help myself in the early fall..the ant approach goes into overdrive.) I have a ton of fabric for sewing. (The samples for the new book on gold/silver/copper are in progress.)

We'll get by. Just makes me feel a little Mamsie Pepper about it all.