Our experts

VITA PALESTRANT

“When I was little and nagged Mum to buy some novelty or other she invariably said, ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees’. That, along with other advice, including ‘You never listen!’, fell on deaf ears until my teens. I worked in a pharmacy through high school and the local library during my gap year to pay for a trip to Europe. I had listened after all, and it was far more empowering and satisfying having pulled it off myself.”

MARCUS PADLEY

“Mum taught me that money was nothing to worry about. I remember an ad for a bank that had two showings of the same video shot from the point of view of a parent taking their kids to the beach. In the first a father stressed over his job and the mortgage. In the second a mother expressed her joy and fulfilment at that moment. That was my mum. Money really isn’t everything.”

GREG HOFFMAN

“Very detailoriented, my mother is. She keeps great records and every year tries (usually unsuccessfully) to draw up a detailed household budget with my father. In my younger years, I used to track my income and expenses closely. Like counting calories, counting dollars and cents can really focus your mind and make you sharply aware of areas for improvement.”

ANNETTE SAMPSON

“Apart from the old ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees’, my mother taught me that you don’t need a lot to make your family happy. She always made sure we felt cared for and special – from making us smart outfits to having home-baked goodies waiting for us when we got off the school bus. In retrospect, I’m glad we couldn’t have everything we wanted as it taught us to value what we had.”