third

Just gave the lad a reminder lesson about the rule of thirds.

No, not that one. Though I took a photography class in college and have had that rule of thirds lesson too...

The one I speak of is about money.

I've always taught them that all income, whether earned, found, or a gift, should be divided into thirds.

I will add that we believe in tithing, so first, we tithe.

But even at a young age, I told them divide it into three. Money to save long term. Money to save short term and money to spend.

Always.

Always.

Stuff happens. Simple as that.

Stuff happens and if I spend it all or save less, even a birthday gift I'm less financially prepared to handle the stuff.

Sometimes it's a bummer. Or at least it initially seems like a bummer to not spend it all.

The example I gave him is of one of the most memorable trips of their childhood.

Though we lived in Southern California we could not afford to go to Disneyland as often as they would have liked. And when we did go, it was with a packed lunch and 5.00 each to spend.

Now, if you've ever been to Disneyland you know, 5.00 won't get you much of anything.

They never had Mickey ears, or a t-shirt or ate at any of the fun stops along the ride route.

So, one year when I got both a nice work bonus and a nice tax refund I said, hey, we're going to Disneyland, and you two can be like regular tourists!

They both got hats of their choice, plus another souvenir, [haha, like giant micket glove hand, and yes they still have] ... we ate there, had popcorn, ice cream AND got mickey head shaped balloons.

Yep, they still remember the trip 10 years later. My son says it really was one of the best things we did.

The lesson part, was that I told my son, we had, at the time, never been on a 'family vacation' the three of us.

I wanted to take an small vacation somewhere and always wished the three of us could have done ... well, more.

With the money I had, I probably could have taken an overnight trip somewhere, but I allowed us to use 1/3 of the money and saved the rest.

That Disneyland day was a fabulous day trip. More than they could have expected, they even kept asking throughout the day ... "really? I can have this?"

Oh we needed that saved money later on. My son needed money for Scouts like nobody's business later on. And long term, sometimes I think long term is still happening ....

I don't always make the perfect decison. But I like my rule of thirds. It's helped us take better care of ourselves.