Learning about Money

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What is the earliest memory you have when it comes to learning about money?

I have a picture of me and my brother running a lemonade stand on my front lawn around 1st grade. I remember getting my first bank account at Bank of Montreal when I was 12 or 13. I also learned how to write a cheque in some class in high school.

But that was the extent of financial literacy training back when I was in high school.

Those are my earliest memories when it comes to finances. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t a lot.

Student life

Moving away from home to another city for university and taking on student loans really was a big learning experience.

I worked two jobs all through university to help cover my expenses on top of my student loans. Ok…so maybe I went to Cuba on reading week with my student loan money once… but other than that I was pretty diligent.

In my 3rd year of university I studied abroad, and really had to rely on a friend to help me with the loan processing from back home, while i tried to get whatever part time work I could in a country where I barely spoke the language. It was really an eye opener.

After graduation I worked hard to pay off my loans as soon as I could. I just didn’t like the feeling of being in debt. Looking back now, of course I wish I had started investing earlier instead of being so gazelle focused on paying of my student loans as early as possible.

I also would have advocated better for myself in terms of sharing expenses better in my post graduation relationship, as I supported my partner by paying most of the housing costs while he went to school. Even though I was paying off my loans at the same time, and he was paying for school in cash and had substantial savings. But C’est la vie.

I’ve learned a lot since then, thanks for joining me on this ride!

What life experiences shaped your view on your finances? Share your earliest memory of learning about money below!

Find more posts like this in the Finance & Investing section of our blog!

1 thought on “Learning about Money

  1. Wow, 12/13 is definitely a young age to have a bank account, I have only actually managed to get myself one recently, but already I don’t know how I can now survive without one. I suppose I started to think about money management when I was about 14, when I begun paid work.

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