No Cash & Carry For Them!

Back in the good old days, Mom and Dad paid for everything in cold cash money. No credit for them, or as it was known in our town, "cash and carry". "Don't ever buy anything unless you can afford it," Mom and Dad used to say. "And affording it means you can and will pay cash. You've got to learn to save!"

My first job was playing the organ in our church for which I was paid a dollar a day. With those dollars a day paid monthly, it was easy to set aside some money for special things. I saved and then bought my first "straight kick-pleat" skirt and sweater to match. I saved some more and then came a brand new shiny Getzen trumpet for band class and practice. I saved even more and—best of all—came the day I had enough money to buy my own portable Smith-Corona typewriter (which by the way I still have) for Miss Swanson's typing class!

I can still hear Mom and Dad saying, "Don't buy anything unless you can afford it! Save your money! Pay cash!" And that was one of the things my parents told me to do that I actually listened to!