My grandmother inspired me to be the person I am today. Despite the fact that she was an economist, she knew how to save money. She was my best friend and mentor. She told me that she learnt how to save when she was a young girl. Her mother told her that the future depends on what you save today. Therefore, she saved any extra coin that she had. She used the savings to join a secondary school because her parents were not in a position to pay her fees. I believed that saving is an important skill that I had to adopt. The skill has helped me move to levels that I could not have moved were it not for the skill I learned from grandma.
I started saving coins when I was a teenager. I did not have a home bank. Therefore, I went to my grandmother for advice. She told me that she used to keep her savings safely in a closed chocolate tin. She developed self-discipline that enabled her not to open the tin to remove the money even when needed. She only opened it when it was very crucial. Therefore, I decided to embrace the self-disciple that helped her succeed. She promised to buy me a home bank provided I was ready and committed to saving. I gave her the first coins that I saved from the family fun day we had gone during the weekend. Within the next two days, grandmother called me and gave me the home bank. I requested her to keep the keys for me so that no one would steal it and take my money.
I was determined to save money so that I can start a business after completing education. My mother learnt about the key skill that I had adopted from her mother after two years. She was very happy that I had become such a responsible man at young age. She promised to give me a reward because of taking such a courageous step. At the end of the month, my mother asked me where I keep the bank. I brought it to her and she put some amount of money that she did not reveal she said that I had done what she failed to do, thus I deserve her support. I had learnt how to spend the minimum possible on my shopping and outings. Thus, I had something to save every time I used money. I did not care the amount of money I saved. I was contended to save the least as I knew it would add up to something good in time (Whaples, 2009).
My skill of saving money helped me join college to do the course of my choice. When I completed secondary school, I was determined to join a good college to take my dream course. However, my parents did not have money at that time. They were going through some financial problems and could not manage to take me to a college that year. They told me to wait for the situation to stabilize. I did not know how long the financial crisis would affect them. I went to my grandmother to seek for advice. She reminded me of the story that she had given me earlier. She paid her school fees using her savings. The same story had repeated in my life. Grandmother was a successful and independent woman because she took the course she wanted. Even if her parents could not take her to school, she had the means to do so. I went back to my mother and told her what I had decided. We opened the home bank to check whether I had enough. Surprisingly, I had saved enough money to clear my college fees and start a small business to sustain the family. The saving skill saved my family from shame and hunger.
