Pinned Money

Shall we imagine that when grandparents were young and raising children that most financial decisions where made by the male in the family? Shall it be considered that most accounts where in the husband's name even though the wife paid the bills out of a check book at the kitchen table and was responsible for getting the payments in the mail on time?


Shall we consider that grandparents had joint checking accounts and the grandmother signed the checks as Mrs.? If women sold eggs, worked outside the home, or did fancy work for neighbors and friends, did she consider that money hers? Was this pin money? Did it derive from 14th and 15th centuries when pins were very expensive and were only allowed to be sold on the first two days of each January?


Did the term stick? Pun intended. Did it, in grandmother's day, mean an allowance of money given by a husband to his wife for private and personal expenditures? Did she off set this meager amount with egg money?


Do you, as a person who works in a single OR double income family set aside some of your own pin money for your private wishes? Do husbands do this? What do you rat away money for? One reader is going to say quilting supplies.


A few years ago, Tom took me shopping for a down winter coat. The sales lady stated what the garment cost and if we opened a charge account; we could save an additional 20%. We stood at the counter and filled out the paperwork; the card was in his name. My name was approved for charging on the card. I have found brands at that store that fit. I like the store. I have shopped there often. Every month there is a statement, I pay it out of a separate account which I will point out is not pin money given to me by him. When the store sent a letter stating our credit was excellent and an elite card was available to us with lots of bells and whistles, my sweet Thomas laughed, because other than the coat, he had never paid the bill.


I went to that store recently because I knew I would be able to match place mats and napkins to go with a piece of tapestry-turned-table- cloth I had bought at the mill end store. I knew that because the store has a standard of excellence. I also went because it was senior citizen's day and there was an additional savings for age and even more WHEN YOU USED YOUR CARD!
Now, imagine my disappointment when the clerk stated I was not able to use the card. It was not in my name. She made a phone call and the person on the other end said my name was not on the list of people that could charge on it. It didn't help my case to tell her I had been using the card since the beginning without anyone questioning that my name was not on the front. I did ask her if this was a new policy and she said it had always been like that.


You may be saying, "I would have left the stuff on the counter." Well, that is always an option but, I had been to other stores and the color in the placements was a match. We have all carried a swatch or worn a jacket to match; one can't rely on perfect match without it. We all know how close and far away coloring matching can be.


My other plan was to buy a new red wool coat to replace the old red wool coat. The outwear was on sale for 50% off with an additional 20% on the card OR 15% if you were a senior.
When I got home, I started to think about what I wanted the store to know. I wanted them to know that if the card holder must be the purchaser, then it needed to be stated. If this was always the rule, then why had I slipped under the clothes rack so many times? I asked them to review the original paper work. I don't think I was upset, I think I was looking at a principle. I emailed. I suspect that since the card was not in my name, I did not get an answer.


Would the solution have been to just get a card in my name ?


I wondered how grandma would react. Would she have told Benhard about it after supper? What would his reaction be? Did Benhard hold the reins so tight on spending that he really did squeeze a penny until it turned into a nickel? Had he said it costs too much too many times and made Grandma a price tag shopper without even looking at was available first? Did Grandma ever have want she dreamed for rather than what she could afford? Would this be an 'era stamp"?


My sweet Thomas was not pleased that I was denied to use the card. He called the company. Although the savings I had lost could not be realized; I was put back on his card.
There is much to be said about quality verses quantity. Will I shop at that store again? Yes. It offers quality. There is much to be said about getting what you pay for. That is, if they will take the card!


Pin money
Cookie jars
Coffee cans
Rat hole for something for yourself, you are worth it.
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