The Value of Money - Essay Example

Some of the items included a baby doll, a puzzle of teddy bears, baby clothes for the baby doll, and a package of M&Ms for my sweet tooth. I was putting the items in the cart without my moms knowledge, hiding them to make sure she would not see them until we were checking out. Once at the checkout, my mom would put each of the items on the conveyer belt. When she came to the items that I had picked out, she shook her head and asked me “are you paying for the items that you have put in the cart?”. I answered “No, I don’t have any money.”. My mom replied “You know money doesn’t grow on trees.

You need to learn that you have to earn your money to buy the things that you want.” My mom told the cashier that everything that I picked out would have to go back, except for the M&M’s. After this incident, my mom decided to help me learn about the value of money and how to earn it. She started having me do chores around the house so that I could earn money to buy some of the items I wanted. Although this helped me understand that money was not free, I remember thinking how unfair it was that I had to earn money to buy my toy(s).

Now that I’m grown up, I have a great job, and a family of my own. I have learned that not only do I have to earn the money I need, I have to manage my money in order to pay bills and buy the item(s) I want. Every trip to the store now consists of me asking myself whether or not I need the item as opposed to wanting the item, regardless of whether I can afford the item or not. During my most recent trip to Wal-Mart, I strolled up and down the grocery aisle, picking up the items that were on my grocery list.

After I was finished getting all with my list, I found myself wandering around looking for anything else that I might want. My first stop on my whimsical items splurge took me to the candy aisle for a big bag of M&Ms