How My Childhood Shaped My Financial Habits
By: Jessica Vu
Tags: Work, Lifestyle, Finance, Money, Family

How My Childhood Shaped My Financial Habits

Frugality at its finest

Photo by Elly Fairytale from Pexels

As immigrants starting out in minimum wage jobs, my parents knew how to stretch a paycheck. Their frugal habits frustrated me over the years but were also necessary and provided me a healthy relationship with money in the long-run.

When I started working part-time, while I knew the “right” way to manage my finances, I decided to deviate from these truths to have my own fun. For the first time in my life, I was making my own money and clamored at the opportunity to spend on whatever I could afford.

After I got the splurges and spending out of the way, I transitioned into a financial minimalist mindset.

How did my parents’ frugality shape my current financial perspective?

I learned from their mistakes

As immigrants, my parents were already at a disadvantage when learning about investments and the stock market in their second language. For decades, saving money was the priority, and investing remained on the backburner. They focused on the necessities, making enough to pay the bills, raising their kids, and providing.

My parents voiced repeatedly over the years how they regretted contributing to their 401(k) ten years too late. Even with their late start, they managed to contribute their catch-up contributions and retire in their 50s.

My parents viewed real estate and their retirement as the best financial investments. And in a sense, they are correct. But after decades from watching their money grow in a house they didn’t want to sell and their retirement they couldn’t touch, they knew more diversification would have helped grow their wealth.

Hindsight is 20/20. As they imparted their financial wisdom and mistakes to me, I moved forward with my finances with those hard lessons learned.

I imitated their food habits

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in their Consumer Expenditures Release that Americans spent an average of $3,526 per year on takeout. That’s equivalent to almost $10/day.

Dining out options during my childhood were slim to none. My parents and I ventured outside of our kitchen solely for the California favorite In-N-Out Burger.

Cooking at home provided the following benefits:

Healthier food

Cost less than dining out

Authentic dishes that weren’t easy to order at a restaurant

Less cost on gas driving back and forth

The reason I rebelled and dined out excessively in college — there was just so much I hadn’t tried!

But my parents had the secret formula all along. I imitated their grocery shopping habits, like scheduling the “necessities” bi-weekly at Costco. Limiting my trips meant I wasn’t stopping by the grocery store every week to refill on bananas and then proceed to buy 10 other miscellaneous items. With each trip to Costco easily totaling up to $100 for my household, halving my trips helped me save tremendously.

Eating at home is healthy, saves money, and you’re making fewer trips to the grocery store instead of a commute to and from to pick up food.

It’s not just all about money. When cooking authentic Vietnamese dishes, there’s not a surplus of restaurants that make the comfort dishes. Sure, you can grab a bowl of pho or egg rolls, but the more specialized and authentic recipes are difficult to find.

I mirrored their strong work ethic

In the early years of their career, they were living paycheck to paycheck. To increase their stability, their overtime hours supplemented their paychecks.

We celebrated holidays on different days as they chose to work those days to receive overtime or double-time pay. While sometimes sad my Christmas mornings were postponed for a day, it instilled in me a strong work ethic.

Mirroring their work habits, I picked up two part-time jobs in college while balancing a full class schedule. Driving back and forth from campus to work 35 hours a week seemed crazy to some students, but my effort paled in comparison to the tiring days and nights my parents worked.

As I started working a regular 40-hour workweek that transformed into longer hours, exhaustion set in. And without kids, too, I wondered how any parents balanced this lifestyle.

I took advantage of sales

Growing up in Vietnam bargaining each day, they didn’t have the shame to negotiate. While they assimilated into American culture and didn’t negotiate on common items, they taught me to take advantage of sales.

My parents adopted a tradition of celebrating holidays after the fact. When the post-holiday shopping sales commenced, we trekked to the mall to buy clothes for less. For years, my outfit consisted of solid colored shirts in every color as those were the cheapest options. Driving to outlets to score the best deals became a family favorite pastime.

While I don’t buy everything on sale, I always wait to buy clothing items. Instead of groceries, clothing is rarely considered a “need,” and if I’m not that interested in it, I forget about it anyway.

I learned that more stuff doesn’t make you happier

As I visit my friends’ homes and see the playrooms and boxes stuffed with toys, I gasp in astonishment. Do kids really need this much stuff?

I didn’t grow up with many toys, and fondly remember my favorite toy being a hula hoop! I’d play with it (before knowing that it could be a form of exercise) and did competitions with my brother to our heart’s content. I jumped with excitement in P.E. when the teacher brought out hula hoops that I could relate to and smile with my friends doing it.

Again, we all have our phases where we make money and choose to spend it, sometimes go above our means or more than we need. I indulged in thousands of dollars on makeup, dining out, and clothes that I regret as I’m throwing out and cleaning up my closet.

Reflecting back on my parents’ lessons, they had it right all along. Give your kids what they need, not what they want.