Dub Family Saving

As I got older I realized that I had no idea what I was doing when it came to personal finances. Like most, I was told, “invest in your companies 401K” and that was pretty much it. I had no real idea of personal investing (not like I have any real idea what I’m doing even now), I barely understood the concept of balancing a checkbook. The idea of creating a budget seemed reasonable, but as I spent even twenty minutes working on one, it would still seem like an uphill battle that I would never figure out.

I look back in time at major purchases that I have made, vehicles, homes, etc. and I realize even in those moments, I think, “was I making the best decision possible.” When it came to rate terms, down payments, credit score, etc., I had no clue of what I was even signing my name to. Admittedly, I did get lucky, my first car purchase when I was eighteen years old was a $3,000 cash purchase. There was no loan amount, no interest rate to have to “consider.” It was a straight up cash deal, and I was ecstatic. Of course, years later I look back and wonder, “could I have gotten that pickup truck for $2,500?”

For years, my wife and I would work paycheck to paycheck. In fact, at times, we still do. We would tell ourselves that if we could only get to a point in life that we didn’t have to live this way. This is usually where the conversation would switch to, “what would you do first if you hit the lottery?”, even though we do not play… Even still, we try to do our best to save, even though we both have vastly different ways of going about it.

My wife’s approach is the old school method. Take cash from the bank, and store it in an envelope and hide it away. That cash sits there, it slowly grows, and its physical. You can go and touch it, count it, heck, you can smell it if you wanted to. With myself, I’ve learned enough to be dangerous. I look at that envelope of cash and think, “that money can be making money in the stock market.”

Overall, I believe these two methods can be beneficial, and I believe your method of saving and investing grossly relies on your financial education and what you are comfortable with doing. Over the years, we have done better for ourselves with utilizing these methods. We have, at times, had a good emergency fund, and at other times, counted the pennies we had in the bank.