WhyDid Wisdom: Piggy Bank Parachute
I remember once being at a cosmetics counter with my mom and the cute young lady serving us up the latest and greatest in lipgloss mentioned that she was getting married soon. She was pretty young, but who can stop young love? I was abhorred when my mom said matter of factly, “You need to keep your own bank account.”
I didn’t understand then that my mom was right (again). It’s easy to fall in love and think that everything from there on out is going to be rainbows and butterflies, but sadly that is not always the case. You can wake up one morning and your whole life can change. The man of your dreams could decide you aren’t the woman of his dreams. He could gamble away your life savings. He could fall off the face of the earth. You never know.
It’s smart to keep a little nest egg of your own. I’m not saying to hide it or to be selfish with the bills, but collecting a little stash of emergency cash can give you some added security. You never want to be forced to stay in a sticky situation just because you don’t have the means to get yourself out of it. Besides, what is sexier than a woman who can stand on her own two feet? A man should know that you aren’t just gonna stick around because you have to. Knowing that alone, may very well keep him in check.
Put away some money each month. It doesn’t have to be a ton. Fifty bucks, a hundred bucks. You can even have it happen automatically. Schedule a transfer from your checking to a savings account so you don’t ever even see the money and spend it. And if everything does happen to remain sunshine and kitty cats, then you’ve got some extra dough to take that man of yours on a vacation to thank him for not being a douchebag.
My dad often laughs in wonderment about my financial savviness. He’s not sure where I got it, but I’m fairly certain he’s pretty happy about it because you never really know when that private jet you’re on is going down and you just may need your own parachute.
xx,
WhyDid