Is it just my kids or are many of today's young people stressed and sounding a bit discouraged? Is it because I am their mom that I hear about their frustrations with lack of money and overwork etc?

Thinking back over my own early adult years, I guess I was stressed and feeling insecure too, but for us, the one consolation was that we had enough money, at least to get us through the 1970s. When the 1980s arrived there was an economic recession that affected many in British Columbia. We were among them and I remember having to tighten up the financial belt. Also the boys were growing rapidly – costing more to clothe and feed. It was about that time, that they began to work part-time and over the summer months. They wanted the “in” styles of clothing and we couldn’t afford to buy them so they have to pay for their own “extras” such as Walkman cassette players, walkie talkies etc. It was during the late 80s that I tried to earn extra money also. I was asked to teach piano lessons and had nine students that came either after school or on Saturdays for lessons. I didn’t earn much money doing this, but it did give me a bit of my own cash.

In the early 1990s I returned to college to upgrade my skills. The big challenge was to become “computer literate.” In 1993 I went back to work, but was only to obtain a low-paying part-time position. In 1994 I found a second part-time job and tried to juggle two jobs. I found this too stressful so in 1995 I was back to working one part-time job again. In the fall of 1996 I returned to complete an Associate of Arts Degree and take additional computer and office management courses. I obtained the degree in April 1999 and had completed additional office courses. In the summer of 1999 I was working full-time again, but this time it was from my own home using my home computer. I was back doing the same thing I trained to do in 1991-1993 – medical transcription. I worked very hard, because during my hiatus I had forgotten how to do this job and it felt like starting from scratch again. I had to purchase a lot of reference books and additional expensive software on credit. Soon afterward, it became necessary to lease-to-own a more powerful computer, as my computer was crashing regularly costing me shop fees and time off work while it was in the shop.

I spent the following five years building up a reference library. This year is the first year that I have decided “enough is enough” with spending on equipment. I will have to make do with what I have, as I am looking towards semi-retirement within the next 3-1/2 years. Oh my how the time flies.

Back to my kids. It is so hard to watch them struggle, but I guess this has been an age-old experience among parents. No matter what our children’s financial circumstances are, life will bring its challenges to them. My conclusion is that, although money can’t buy happiness, it does make the financial side of life one less thing to worry about on top of all the other of life’s challenges. If I had only known then, what I know now……..”