Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Rose. She lived with her grandma and grandpa in an economically challenged part of the city.
There was another little girl named Marie, who lived with her parents in the same part of town.
As the little girls grew, the adults in their lives shared their wisdom with them. Marie’s parents told her to enjoy life as a child and not worry about money. “Just have fun,” they said. You will have to work the rest of your life. So Marie did just that. She stayed up late talking to friends on the weekends and spent hours on social media and Youtube. She also went out with her friends to have fun every week with the allowance her parents gave to her. When Marie turned 18, she had $200 in cash from birthday gifts that she hadn’t spent yet. She thought she might want to go to college so she applied for a loan.
Rose’s grandparents took a different approach. They told Rose that making and saving money was an integral part of life and that to get ahead, she should make different decisions than they had. They encouraged her to get a job as soon as she came of age and to start saving her money. So, Rose got a job at a local coffee shop as a barista. She worked on weekends so she could focus on getting good grades during the week. While Rose indulged in a discounted Caramel Mocha Frappuccino and a movie night with her friends once a month, she was able to save $300 a month. By the time she was 18, she had saved $8,000. Along with a grant she received for getting good grades, this was enough to pay for community college for 4 semesters.
Jump forward two years –
Marie received a grant to go to college but started to work to pay for her extra expenses. It wasn’t quite enough so she took out a loan. When college ended, she owed $5000. Marie knew she had to start paying off her loan within 6 months of graduation college so she took the first job she could find. It took Marie 10 years to pay off her student loan.
On the other hand, Rose owed no money when she graduated so she continued to work at her barista job and live with her grandparents until she found a job that paid well. As soon as she got her first professional job, Rose immediately started saving $100 a month to save up to buy a house.
Jump forward 10 years –
Marie had just paid off her student loan and was starting to save for a house.
Rose had saved $12,000 and was able to make a down payment on her first house.
Jump forward 15 years –
Marie had saved up $12,000 but still needed $3,000 more for a down payment on a house because home prices had risen in that past 10 years.
Rose had paid off her first house with a 15-year mortgage and had $150,000 in equity in her home.
The story went on for a lifetime and in the end, Rose was much better off financially because she developed a strong work ethic and good savings habits from a young age.
If you would like to be like Rose, check out the options to start saving.
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