This would be a great posting on a web site with the name “HaughtyDollar.”

The title is a comment in response to my post on credit card use, including:

“I think it can be summarized, in most cases, as poor financial planning and irresponsible behavior.” 

Which I stand by 100%. 

As a reminder, Haughty describes an attitude of blatant superiority, arrogance, or disdain toward others, often characterized by a belief that one is inherently better, more refined, or of higher status.

I think that’s a bit unfair. 

After working from age 18 to 67 (mostly dealing with people) and reaching 83 years old one tends to become a tad cynical, not accepting of the stereotypes or popular “facts.” Perhaps questioning more things. It’s fair to describe me that way. 

It is also fair to say I am not the typical retire financially or the typical working American for that matter, but it wasn’t always that way. 

For the first thirty years of our marriage, we were very typical. There was very little money to spare, for all practical purposes there was little or no emergency fund. My only life insurance was employer group coverage. We did have good health insurance and I knew if I stayed with my first employer (which I did), I would earn a pension. 

Yes, we bought a vacation home with 10% down, but it was only possible because we rented it most of the summer and used tax deductions. We never took any significant trips until I retired. We couldn’t afford (under my definition) to take our family to Disneyworld so we didn’t, even as our children’s friends did. 

We lived in modest old houses (1918 and 1929). Our children didn’t participate in costly sports activities.  We drove basic cars with the lowest payment possible and drove them until they wouldn’t move. 

Financial disasters, not really, but a week after we moved into our second home (built 1929), the boiler burst on the converted coal furnace and flooded the basement. That was also a week after our fourth child was born. I was still going to school three nights a week and Saturdays. 

During those early years we didn’t have credit cards and when we did, we never charged more than what was payable at month end. 

Can I claim financial prudence, always living within our means, always? I think so. I also acknowledge the absence of significant financial hardships along the way. 

Today three of our four children are very average trying to meet all the bills, but their voluntary  spending is not like ours was, especially on sports activities. Two have second jobs and given they are in their 50s with children still in grammar school, and no pensions, they may never get to retire. 

I don’t see myself as superior or inherently better than others, but I do claim financial prudence from age 13 onward, I do claim ignoring the Jones’s, avoiding lifestyle creep and the ability to set financial priorities, longer term goals and to resist immediate gratification. If that makes me haughty… guilty as charged.