Comments on: What My Ridiculous Parents Taught Me About Money

By: Jack @ Duke of Dollars

Jack @ Duke of Dollars — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 15:45:48 +0000

In reply to OMGF. I read Hillbilly Elegy: what a compelling story!! I don't agree with many of the author's viewpoints, but I did emphasize with soooo many elements of his story. Thank you so much for the recommendation.

By: Jack @ Duke of Dollars

Jack @ Duke of Dollars — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 15:39:41 +0000

In reply to Physician on FIRE.

PoF – I just now realized you had commented on this story. After exhausting ERE, MMM, and countless other blogs – I stumbled upon your blog and found PF reading nirvana. Your writing, the clarity, and usefulness of the your posts are almost unmatched. I’m a big fan!

By: Jack @ Duke of Dollars

Jack @ Duke of Dollars — Sat, 30 Dec 2017 05:25:44 +0000

In reply to OMGF.

Hi OMGF –

Up until I left for college, the closest positive role models I had were a few excellent teachers. I started to snap out of my upbringing at 18 and met my wife-to-be soon after I took charge of my own life. She and her parents were my guiding light out of the mess. We married quite young and have grown up together in many ways. Her parents are no longer with us, so now we forge our own path.

I hadn’t heard of Hillbilly Elegy, but just picked up a copy on my kindle. I needed a new book to read! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a thoughtful comment.

By: OMGF

OMGF — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 20:15:29 +0000

Wow! Thank you for putting this out there. I know it’s not easy to open a vein on the page but I’m so glad that you did. So many parents inflict financial and emotional trauma on their children. Kids barely in their teens are told to accept all types of abuse because it’s coming from their parents. People assume that if a parent isn’t kicking the shit out of you then whatever else they’ve done is easily forgiven. Good for you for getting out and staying away.
I do wonder, did you have any other support system around you in your teen years. You were extremely lucky not to have had to bear the consequences of the risks your parents made you take. Was there a coach, teacher, friend’s parent, or other family member to keep you tethered. If you read Hillbilly Elegy J.D. Vance always credits his grandma and sister for being the anchors that kept him from getting swept away in the madness around him. From everything I’ve seen the people who make it out of these circumstances have an angel on earth that helps divert them from the path their environment dictates.
Glad you are in a much better place now.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 21:09:39 +0000

In reply to steveark. SCARY!!

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 21:08:45 +0000

In reply to Mao. Haha... true that.

By: ZJ Thorne

ZJ Thorne — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 23:20:21 +0000

YES! Parents who refused to raise you insisting that you were the jerk child who just wanted a fancy life. No, I wanted safety and decency. Congrats on learning early enough that they could not snarl you with a record. A life well-lived is so sweet after what we went through.

By: steveark

steveark — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 15:53:52 +0000

The opening story reminds me of my first trail ride on my first used three wheeler. Yes, back in the early days of ATV’s they only had three wheels because having four wheels just made turning over without warning way too hard to do. Well it was not a great machine with a sticky carburetor, yeah they didn’t have fuel injection either yet, so there was a delay between hitting the throttle and the engine responding. That led to a situation where I was trying to climb a vertical creek bank and the engine revved up to wide open at just the wrong time. I jumped off the back and realized that those dreams where you try to run but it is like your feet are in concrete actually can come true. My feet were stuck in the mud as 350 pounds of metal crashed down on my head. Later in the ER the doctor walked up to me, shook his head and said “Three wheeler, right?” Then he put nine stitches in my head and sent me back to redneckville. Ah, thanks for reviving great memories!

By: Mao

Mao — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 15:16:02 +0000

Great tips from your parents. It’s shocking when I saw some friends would blow a big chunk of their inheritance into nice cars (buying cash!). Really a horrible use of money.

The most ridiculous advice and yet useful my dad gave me was to use a condom. Teenage/Not-Ready pregnancy is really no joke and for sure will ruin your financial near future.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 10:49:40 +0000

In reply to Michael. Woolworths!!! Totally forgot about that place! I used to go there back in the day picking up fish for my aquarium... Taken there by, surprise surprise, my grandparents as well :)