How I Saved a Small Fortune and Taught My Kids to Be Independent
Did you raise your kids to be prudent spenders and good savers? After a slow start, I turned it around and can see the changes in my kids. It's not too late for you to do the same for your kids.
It's much easier these days to spend money on material things, especially if you can afford to do so. What's worse is the peer pressure to keep up with the Joneses or their kids. Like many of you, when my wife and I grew up, a family dinner at Ponderosa was a BIG family night out. I fondly remember the all-you-eat buffet and especially loved the chocolate pudding. I grew up in Arlington Heights, Ill., in a middle-class family of four. We did fine financially compared to our neighbors (the houses were all so much smaller back then).
I have succumbed to the peer pressure of keeping up with the Joneses more than I like to admit. If only I still lived in the nice three-bedroom ranch we first bought in Glen Ellyn for $220,000 I would have boatloads more money today! My mortgage would have been paid off years ago. I would already
