When first given this assignment, the first person that came to my mind to ask questions about financing was my dad. My dad is not only my hero but he has played a huge and strong role in my life and my family’s life. My parents came to the U.S. in 1977, and they had basically nothing but the clothes that they brought with them and their brand new marriage. My dad worked 15 hours a day to better the entire family and that we could live comfortably.
When I asked my dad what he had wished he knew prior to becoming an adult he said, “I wish I knew how expensive raising five kids was in the United States., So I could have prepared for it.” He did everything he could to keep us whenever he could, and I believe it is right. Especially in today’s America, parents and young adults have to brace for the worst when it comes to taking independent responsibilities, or responsibility of an entire family.
When people become young, self-made adults, they get surprised by all the little things that go along with it. “The electricity bill was the most shocking thing about living in a home,” my dad said when I asked him what surprised him financially for the first time. “Every little thing counts, no matter how small. Everything has a price and most of them are expensive.” To maintain a home in American, the trash needs to be paid for. In addition the gas, light, and water bills have to be paid for and many other bills. We, as young adults from ages of seventeen to twenty-one don’t ever realize that being an independent house holder is a lot more complex and expensive than we thought.
My dad was always good at saving money, and he will vouch for me on that because he is a smart man, and a smart financial man. He said, “Saving money to buy a house in 1985, it was by far the smartest thing I did for our family.” In a madder of five years he saved fifty thousand dollars to by their first house cash so they could live in a house that they actually own. That kind of saving is a big reason why anytime I need to do anything financially I come straight to my dad.
Nobody can always be perfect, and that is also the case when speaking to my dad. “Selling the first house we owned for a little less because of your