18/08/2026
I was 9 when I had my first real lesson about money.
I wanted a Game Boy Color.
Everyone seemed to have one. Pokémon Yellow and Red were everywhere, and I wanted one badly.
So I asked my mum.
Her answer was simple:
“Save money and buy yourself.”
My daily allowance was $1.50.
So I started saving.
My Deepavali ang pows went into the pot too.
Eventually, I had around $130.
For a 9-year-old, that felt like a fortune.
One Saturday, I went to Mustafa Centre with my dad, ready to finally buy it.
Then I realised something...
I had enough for the Game Boy.
But not the game cartridge.
😂
So I bought the console and started saving all over again.
There was even an uncle at an aquarium near my parents' shop who sold Game Boy cartridges on the side. I somehow negotiated an instalment arrangement with him and kept paying until I could take the game home.
Looking back now, I realise my mum was teaching me something I couldn't understand at 9.
She was teaching me that I could create the money for something I wanted.
Back then, I only thought:
“Why do I have to work so hard for something my friends get so easily?”
Today, I see it differently.
Some of our earliest experiences with money quietly shape the way we relate to it as adults.
I'm starting to understand my own relationship with money by looking back at stories like this.
And I'm curious about yours too.
What's one of your earliest memories involving money?