"If you want to have money, first you need to learn how to respect it"

Money--it truly makes the world go ‘round. I have been thinking about writing this article for awhile now, I was just trying to figure out a way to address a topic that is on most people’s minds more often than any other topic--unless you’re Bill Gates, Donald Trump, or Oprah-- because they have plenty of it.

From a young age, I was always fascinated with coins. I enjoyed the different markings that you can find on coins, how shiny they were, and the fact that they were actually worth something always intrigued me. I started a coin collection when I was five years old, I began to take an interest in where the coin came from, how much each one was worth, and what metals were melted together in order to make each coin. Around the same time my interest began to grow in money, my father told me a story about this little mouse named Pinch Penny. “Pinch Penny Mouse” is a story about a little mouse who wasn’t too proud to pick up money off the ground. He made it a point to save every penny that he would earn or find. His friends would laugh at him for saving all of his money--but one day the town went bankrupt and needed money--and good old Pinch Penny was there to bail them out. This story inspired me to pick up change off the ground--to me it made so much sense because it was FREE money that I didn’t have to do anything for. To this day, at thirty one years old, I still pick up change off of the ground--and you should too!

By the age of five, I began to receive money for my birthday in the form of dollar bills--I would get a $100 from my grandparents. I really thought I hit the jackpot when I made my communion when I was seven years old and received several hundreds of dollars from my family members. Unlike most seven year old children, instead of thinking about all of the ways I could spend my money--on candy, sports cards, toys-- I began to think about all of the ways I could KEEP my money. I decided to keep my money in a piggy bank so that it was safe.

As I grew older and more birthdays and Christmases passed, I began to accumulate more and more money. By the time I was eleven years old, I asked my father if he could come with me to start a savings account so that I could start making money on my money. I had learned that money doesn't grow on trees and that if I wanted to have more--I certainly couldn’t just rely on Christmas and my birthday to obtain it. As I grew older I began to ask more questions about how to get more money. I started a few small businesses (a candy machine business, a business drawing henna tattoos, etc.) and decided to up the ante by putting my money in a mutual fund. I had grown the utmost respect for money--and I was only twelve years old.

The reason why a good portion of those who are reading this article do not have money--is simply because you have never learned to respect it. You receive your paycheck each money--or every two weeks--and before you even have a chance to make physical contact with your money--it’s usually gone. Online banking is very convenient, however, it takes away from the idea that your money actually exists. Instead of holding physical change or physical cash in your hands--we often just swipe our debit card, credit card, or click a button online and POOF!--the money is gone. This convenience of money transaction has distorted your idea of the value of money. Often I see people dropping pennies, dimes, and nickels on the ground and not even make an attempt to pick them up because their philosophy is: “it’s just change, I can’t buy anything with that small amount of money anyway.” I see the same people buying a large dunkin donuts or Starbucks coffee several times a day--all year long! If you do the math, that amount adds up pretty quickly! Another huge expense people can avoid is paying a ridiculous amount of money on their cell phone and cable bills. What’s funny is that these same individuals will be the first one to tell you that they have money issues--and are barely getting by to make ends meet. In order to have money, we first NEED to respect it--whether the currency is in the form of a penny or a hundred dollar bill. Instead of spending all of our free time thinking about all of the ways that we can spend our money, we should spend the time thinking about ways that we can save our money--and how we can make money with the money that we currently have.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this article, and I truly hope that you were inspired. Remember, the next time you see change on the ground--pick it up--it’s free money!