The descriptions behind this worry does not echo strongly in me.
I grew up in a family without much money. I decided that the best solution to reduce expenses was to not ask for things. I didn't tell my parents about this because telling them might lead to them having more stress about money.
To give you some idea, everyone month or so we went out to dinner at a restaurant. That was so exciting for my sister and me. The restaurant? Burger King. Compare to the essay, where it says "we ate at McDonalds three times in two days" Jim Anthony's 6 year old is in a very different demographic than I was.
As an older kid, I might sometimes get a few quarters to play a video game (this was the 1980s), and I would spend 30 minutes watching others play, to make sure the quarter was worth it. I got my entertainment also by watching the screens and thinking about how it might be played.
I did get an allowance. It wasn't much. I didn't often ask for my allowance, since that would have been less money for the family. I recall I could get extra money for taking out the garbage or mowing the lawn. Perhaps not coincidentally, those are the two household tasks I now dread.
When I went off to college (full scholarship in a state school, including room and board, for doing well in school and on the PSAT - doing homework is free), I kept track of every single expense, down to a nickle used to make a photocopy. If any activity cost money, I avoided doing it.
I'm lead to believe that my viewpoint is not uncommon among those growing up without much money. It's not a fun feeling. My response still, when money is tight, is to shut down and do nothing.
Mind you, that's not the same as budgeting. Budgeting is spending for things that are worth it, and affordable. What I learned was to not spend.
Except for the parents mentioned in #11, I don't empathize with the comments.
Take #13. "It suggested an allowance of sorts, but it also required the children to cover the costs of some everyday necessary items, not just snacks, McDonalds or video games…more like clothes, shoes, haircuts, etc."
That wouldn't have worked for me. I didn't have the spending money for snacks, etc., and I would wear clothes and shoes until they had holes in them, and basically had to be ordered to get a haircut and new clothes. (See above, under "not spend money.") Actually, more like my mother had to drag me.
The essay starts with a strange observation about "blue collar", based on physical types. The entire essay can be seen as expressing a decades-old class-based upper-middle class anxiety.
I grew up in a family without much money. I decided that the best solution to reduce expenses was to not ask for things. I didn't tell my parents about this because telling them might lead to them having more stress about money.
To give you some idea, everyone month or so we went out to dinner at a restaurant. That was so exciting for my sister and me. The restaurant? Burger King. Compare to the essay, where it says "we ate at McDonalds three times in two days" Jim Anthony's 6 year old is in a very different demographic than I was.
As an older kid, I might sometimes get a few quarters to play a video game (this was the 1980s), and I would spend 30 minutes watching others play, to make sure the quarter was worth it. I got my entertainment also by watching the screens and thinking about how it might be played.
I did get an allowance. It wasn't much. I didn't often ask for my allowance, since that would have been less money for the family. I recall I could get extra money for taking out the garbage or mowing the lawn. Perhaps not coincidentally, those are the two household tasks I now dread.
When I went off to college (full scholarship in a state school, including room and board, for doing well in school and on the PSAT - doing homework is free), I kept track of every single expense, down to a nickle used to make a photocopy. If any activity cost money, I avoided doing it.
I'm lead to believe that my viewpoint is not uncommon among those growing up without much money. It's not a fun feeling. My response still, when money is tight, is to shut down and do nothing.
Mind you, that's not the same as budgeting. Budgeting is spending for things that are worth it, and affordable. What I learned was to not spend.
Except for the parents mentioned in #11, I don't empathize with the comments.
Take #13. "It suggested an allowance of sorts, but it also required the children to cover the costs of some everyday necessary items, not just snacks, McDonalds or video games…more like clothes, shoes, haircuts, etc."
That wouldn't have worked for me. I didn't have the spending money for snacks, etc., and I would wear clothes and shoes until they had holes in them, and basically had to be ordered to get a haircut and new clothes. (See above, under "not spend money.") Actually, more like my mother had to drag me.
The essay starts with a strange observation about "blue collar", based on physical types. The entire essay can be seen as expressing a decades-old class-based upper-middle class anxiety.