Money in the Bank: Five Lessons in Frugal Living from Mom

In honor of Mother's Day 2010 this Sunday, I thought I'd compile a list of five lessons gleaned from motherly wisdom that are applicable to saving money and living frugally.  Because even though we all railed against the whole "Because I said so" bottom-line, turns out Mom knew what she was talking about...

1. Chores and Allowance - Probably the first taste we all got for earning money came from doing chores like cleaning our rooms, washing the dishes, taking out the trash and collecting a weekly allowance from Mom.  Some got stuffed into ceramic piggy banks, some got blown on candy--but the lesson of working and earning money lasted a lifetime.
2. Money doesn't grow on trees - More so than earning money, the lesson we learned about NOT spending money is a very important one.  Whether it was a comic book, beanie baby or some bubble gum, the buck stopped here whenever Mom said "No."  Learning to say "No" to ourselves might be a bit harder, but the boundaries Mom set growing up helped us realize that we can't afford to indulge every single whim.
3. Recycling - Mom was green well before green was the "new black."  Chances are if you had older siblings, you grew up wearing their hand-me-downs.  Mom knew you would outgrow stuff long before it wore out--and well, "Waste not, want not."  No wonder so many of us utilize this lesson by shopping eBay, Craigslist and thrift stores.
4. If all your friends jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge - Advertisement may entice us to buy this product or that one because they'll make us cooler/hipper/sexier.  Witness the lemming-like buying frenzy of the latest/hottest gizmo or gadget, be it an iPad or Reebok Easytone sneakers or Silly Bandz.  But Mom was never one to follow the "wisdom of crowds," because she knew that while fads come and go, good (and bad) decisions have lasting ramifications. 
5. No dessert until you finish your dinner - We knew we could poke at those peas for hours, but Mom would not budge unless we ate every single one.  Similarly, delayed gratification is key to living frugally and we'd all be wise to eschew the "Life's short, eat dessert first" philosophy in lieu of stopping and assessing whether we really should have dessert at all.  Over at "You Have More Than You Think," Shawanda posts five questions to ask yourself before buying anything and we think Mom would approve of this.

What money lessons did your Mom teach you? Tell us in the comments below!