Mr. Stingy!

When I was a child, I was a very stingy child. Stingy in that I would generally save my pocket money and drink tap water and usually didn't buy drinks if I was going out around the neighbourhood cycling. Stingy in not buying a lot of snacks and knick-knacks for myself.

How did I get this thriftiness within me? Was it born inside of me or was it something I learnt along the way as I was growing up?

Modelling after my father
Parents exert one of the most powerful influences on their children consciously or unconsciously. In today's era of active parenting, most parents will do a lot for their children, teaching them to survive in our competitive academic environment, fighting to get their children into the best schools, the best enrichment programmes, the best of everything that they can get their hands on.

When I was growing up, my parents were slightly more hands-off as there were three of us siblings as I was the youngest of the lot. Hence, so long as I kept up my grades and was doing okay in school, they didn't hassle me much and allowed me time to play and be a child. ;-)

However, one thing that did rub off was my father's thriftiness. My father is in some respects the quintessential asian father. Generally, he didn't talk much and performed the role of the disciplinarian in the house as we were afraid to make our father angry but we were not so worried about our mother. However, he was pretty thrifty in not spending a lot of money on clothes and cars and stuff.

Banana Split vs. Single Scoop
I remember once my parents took the whole family to an ice-cream place, where my dad said we could order anything. So my sister and brother ordered big sundaes and banana-splits while I just ordered a scoop of raspberry ripple ice cream. When I saw my siblings having such big ice creams, sibling rivalry took over and I threw a tantrum! My father was a bit miffed and scolded me for throwing the tantrum. I was upset because I knew my father is a thrifty person so in my 7 year old brain then, I thought it would be good if I ordered the most modest ice cream on the menu, and didn't appreciate the fact that he was prepared to treat the whole family that day. However, my experience modelling after my father taught me to take the thrifty choice because it appeared to be the one that he would take.

It is your destiny
This approach to life has stuck with me even as I prepare to embark into the next phase of life, to start my own family. :-) I am still generally thrifty and don't have to think too much. Most decisions are made in terms of cost-effectiveness but I have tempered my stinginess with making choices based on value rather than the cheapest you can get.

I still hardly buy clothes for myself except for the occasional visit to Robinsons for the annual great Singapore Sale and before the Lunar New Year. My most expensive watch that I bought for myself cost all of $109 for a good quality Seiko and generally, my current wallet has been with me for the past 3-4 years. :-)

Some of you might think I live a pathetic life being so stingy with myself but I choose to see it as life choice. To me, it doesn't matter if my watch is a Philip Patek, Tag-Hauer or Casio. So long as it tells time and fits the dressing style, I will wear it. My current watch is a Hamiliton Khaki that was given to me by Mindef for completion of my 10 years reservist. It looks decent and is a small refund of my tax dollars so I am not complaining. :-)

We are moist robots
I read about this term, "moist robots" in Scott Adams (cartoonist of Dilbert) blog and agree that to a certain extent, we have been programmed to behave in certain ways unconsciously because of our parents. For me, my father's imprint has been strong even though he didn't formally lecture me about saving money and being thrifty. I could observe his behaviour as I grew up and picked up on some of those habits as I matured into an adult.

What type of programming have you received in your life? Consider the people who impacted you when you were growing up. Does you behaviour now reflect their conscious or subconscious influence on the way you approach money and finances?

Enjoy your weekend and as always, be well and prosper!