It seems today that everyone wants the government to give them something such as more stimulus money, supposedly to help out the economy.

It constantly does amaze me that many have no idea where this money is coming from.  We know it doesn’t grow on trees, it’s not laid in the form of a golden egg, and I’ve not yet been able to find the pot at a rainbow’s end. Well the truth is we borrow it and have no idea how to pay it back.

I remember as a child placing dimes in a saving folder.  The bank had these “kitties” for kids which had a kitten printed on them and they were similar to the same folders the March of Dimes used years ago. 

After filling up the folder you would go to the bank and give it to Helen and she would put it in your savings account.  She said, “Billy, I am so proud of you for saving and here is a new kitty for you to fill with dimes." As a child I left the bank beaming. Maybe I’m way too simplistic but this was a very early lesson as to learning to save money. 

My take on the last “freebie” check the government sent is also pretty simple.  The money was spent three ways.  First, at the gas pump, second at Wal-Mart, and thirdly at one of the zillion Indian casinos we have a few miles south on the Oklahoma border.  Sad to say, but number three was the only one which money probably stayed in America.  The gas money went to the Middle East after the station operator took a few pennies and the Wal-Mart money went mostly to China after the Bentonville cut.  Since we probably borrowed the money the government gave away from China, I guess it is only fitting we would return it to them twice.

It is a strange time when only one person on television,  Dave Ramsey, is preaching save-save-save before you buy.  I recommend his show to people all the time as a common sense approach of getting out of debt and saving money.

Most community bankers do not want the item you purchase to own you. And that is what does happen so many times with the purchase of a house too large, boat too big, or toys the adult doesn’t need and can’t afford.  Your local bank wants you to “lend” your money to them by saving it. 

I’m doing some research into my own family history and saving money was a prime operative in our everyday life. 

My mother had a collection of letters between her parents, exchanged while they were courting in the very early 1900s.  She also had a group of letters she and my father had exchanged.  She told me these were going to be thrown away but that she changed her mind and thought after she was gone, maybe her children would be able to learn something about their lives. 

In both cases these couples were geographically separated for years before they married.  The reason was mostly money - or rather the lack of any.  But they saved the money they earned and wrote about how they would be able to build a life together and reading their letters taught me that the lessons I had already learned about money were good ones. Hundreds of thousands of other couples during this time did the same thing.  Saving money was a national pastime.  Contrast that with today, and the I-want-it-now philosophy.

The first step in developing a saving attitude can be a small one.  A little perceived pain today will pay great rewards later.  The dime kitty is now a quarter kitty at our bank. If your community banker doesn't have one, let me know and I’ll be happy to send you one for your child or grandchild to start them with "baby steps" toward lifelong saving rewards.

Or maybe I should just send one to Washington, D.C.

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Main Street Money normally appears on Mondays. The election this week caused its appearance to be delayed.

Kansas Liberty columnist Bill Wyckoff is president of Labette Bank, a community bank with locations throughout Southeast Kansas. He lives on a farm outside Altamont, Kansas. A graduate of Kansas State University with an MBA from Southern Illinois University, he enjoys collecting antique John Deere tractors and driving his hemi orange Dodge Challenger. Email bwyckoff@labettebank.com

The week in Review