i was thinking the other day, that each member in my family represents at least one coveted (by me) personal finance skill or inclination.

the entrepreneur

when i think of the youngest, the baby brother, i think of an entrepreneur.

you know your baby brother is an entrepreneur if..

• he tells you that he bought a gazillion units of the latest gaming device to resell for profit among his friends and other interested parties
• tells you he is selling his hair on ebay, and actually does it for $150! (this is my fave!)
• pragmatically saves the insurance check for a couple thousand he received from a recent accident for ‘future opportunities’, rather than using it to fix up the cosmetics on his vehicle
• says that he gives up his world of warcraft online account in order to save money — ??
• networks with retail sales people in order to become ‘pals’ with them so that they might give him good bargains later

he is 18.

our dad used to say that baby bro would turn out to go into business. i disagreed vehemently, convinced that he was meant for the engineering world, with his interests in robotics and computers. alas, i was mistaken. father knows best in this case.

the investor

the second to youngest, the little brother, is the most frugal of us kids. he recently turned 21. he shops for clothes at goodwill, and does not spend on anything that isn’t a necessity (eg, food, basic clothing). occasionally though, i’ve seen him buy something nice for himself (new boots), but that is pretty rare.

when we were younger, he used to tell our mom to not spend greater than $5 on any presents for his friends when he was invited to a birthday party.  he never asked for anything explicitly, and was appreciative of everything he received from me over the years.

instead of spending money on things that your average teen spends on, what does he do with his money?  he does after all have a bit of income from the US air force as a linguist.  he invests. since he was about 18, he has experimented with accounts with etrade, schwab, zecco, and t rowe price.

a few days ago, i published an interview i had with him, in profile of a 21-year-old saver, investor.

the career climber

the third youngest at 29, is very ambitious, doesn’t respond all that well to authority, very independent and resourceful. he does not waste time. he works very hard, well more than the average 40 hours per week, often putting in hours over the weekend when he doesn’t really need to. he wants to. i gather that work is of the utmost priority for him.

he did not graduate from a college. it doesn’t matter. i think he makes 6 figures! he was a networking engineer for a few different companies in japan for about 3 years, before he became a manager in a publishing company.  i’m quite proud of him.

i wish i was a little more ambitious and pushed myself harder when it comes to work. but i’m not the most consistent. i have my stellar weeks, and my so-so weeks. he seems to always have super weeks. of course, it helps that the culture and work ethics is different in japan compared to here in the US.

compared to the other brothers, he’s not necessarily the most frugal though. he likes to be able to spend lots of money on nice things. i seem to recall a nice winter coat for almost a thousand dollars?! but if he can afford it, and it makes him happy, then more power to him. he does work hard after all. he likes quality.

as far as i know, he has no debt in terms of academic or consumer loans. he and the sis-in-law currently live in an apartment. their car is paid for. they don’t really use credit cards over in japan — apparently their philosophy is, ‘if you don’t have money for it, don’t buy it.’ it’s a good philosophy to have. it makes so much sense.

the tightwad

our dad is not just frugal, he is a tightwad. i believe there is a bit of a difference.

the little brother is frugal, because he is hesitant to spend money if he doesn’t have to. the dad is averse to spending money.

he keeps a dollar in his wallet only most of the time. he never buys clothes, i think he has the same clothes from the 80s. he only buys food that is necessary, rarely any snacks. he does as much of the home improvement that he can on the house, rents equipment, and works on the cars that he can too. he picks up pennies on the street.

he does, however, occasionally spend money on traveling to europe to visit relatives.

i admire that he doesn’t really depend on money, he is resourceful and finds ways to fix things himself, simplifying, and buying only what is really needed. he also doesn’t have debt except for mortgage, as far as i know.

the accountant

my mother has used the envelope system for as long as i can remember. my parents were fairly cash-based since i was a child, and she handled the money. i saw on the envelopes that she would add or subtract money values from there as she used/earned money. if i recall correctly, she did keep a couple of different envelopes for different categories. whenever i asked for money for school, etc., she would bust out those envelopes and make her tabulations.

i admire now the fact that she was diligent about keeping her eye on what was going in and out with the money. they do say that one should keep track of expenses in a notebook to get a sense of one’s finances, to write down every cent that goes in and out of one’s accounts. she didn’t do this for only a month or two though — she did this for years. as far as i know, she still does this to this day.

unfortunately, she is also a big spender on luxuries, doesn’t really know how to prioritize spending, and is materialistic. but that is a story for another time.

* * *

what am i? well, at the time of this writing, i would consider myself a hybrid, a mix of all of the above!

like the baby brother, i am pursuing ‘entrepreneurial’ endeavors, by selling my crocheted products online and to friends as extra income to snowflake away my debts. i intend to freelance soon, when the time is right, so that i will sell my coding services. like the little brother, i can be frugal, regularly trying to dissuade the SO from buying too many clothes or shoes unnecessarily if at all possible. i demur buying things at the grocery store if not needed, saying only, ‘we can’t afford it. we have debts to pay off. we don’t need it. we have to save money.’ i rarely buy new clothes or accessories, and get excited by used bookstores.

like the younger brother in japan, i care about my work and want to excel and get paid well for my efforts and results. i am not consistently ambitious, but i do have my moments. my job is not just a job — it is more of a career, and also a reflection of part of who i believe i am (my ‘calling’).

like my dad, i keep as little cash in my wallet as possible, and strive to own the bare minimum, plus a little. i only have one vehicle. i am reluctant to have things that i have repaired by others if i or the SO can do that ourselves. and like the mother, i have been regularly attentive to my cash flow. and i generally spend cash or via debit card — no credit card (anymore).

how about you? are you like other members of your family in your personal finance habits, or perhaps a little bit of everyone?