Money Tune Tuesday is making a one-time only return thanks to this guest post from my friend (and FinCon12 roomie), Erin, who blogs about money at The Dog Ate My Wallet. I’ve known her for a while and she’s a pretty awesome lady so when you’re done reading her post, go visit her site and show her some love!
I was a tween girl in the late 80s. What that means is that I was a New Kids on the Block fan. I am not ashamed of it. In fact, I still love New Kids’ music, and I’m not ashamed of that, either (Jana’s note: Me, too). You might still wonder, though, how “I’ll Be Loving You Forever” (a very early NKOTB song. From their second album (note: I corrected this information based on a comment). Yes, I know I said album. I’m kind of old) can possibly be a Money Tune. Remember, everything is in the eye of the beholder.
Before you finish reading, have a listen to this 80s auditory delight:
For me, this is a money tune because it was the first NKOTB song I fell in love with, and having fallen in love, any and all money I earned in my 8th grade and freshmen years of high school was spent on NKOTB stuff. I even bought a ticket to a concert I had no way of getting to, based on the thinking that if I had a ticket, somehow a way to get me from Reno to Oakland would magically appear. (It did not, and this is probably why I don’t subscribe to The Secret as an adult.) Jana’s note: my first concert was NKOTB and Tiffany, at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. I got Joey McIntyre’s autograph that night. Still a highlight of my childhood.
My love for NKOTB taught me the importance of saving. As it was, my parents required that half of any babysitting money I earned be put into my college savings account. That meant I only got to keep half of what I earned. In addition, I earned $2-3/hour, regardless of number of kids. That’s right, it could take me as much as 5 hours to earn $10, of which, I’d only get to keep $5. Even back then, new music tapes (I did not yet have a CD player) cost more than $5 (Jana’s note: I think Erin got screwed on her babysitting fees. $2 an hour is just plain rude of those parents. Also, I loved cassette tapes. Not as much as I love my digital music but back in the late ’80s, cassette tapes were the shit!). Concert tickets (and I bought two- the second time, they actually played Reno, so I was able to go) cost considerably more.
For the first time in my life, I was saving my money not just for one particular thing, but banking it against the possibility of future need- concert tickets, a new album, whatever.
Even if I did not always remember that lesson in future years, New Kids on the Block taught it to me, and for that, I will be loving them, forever.
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You really got an awful deal on the baby sitting! I had a lot of jobs as a teen and hated when parents took advantage. One person left me with 5 kids of which two babies instead of the two toddlers she had announced, and had the nerves to lower the rate agreed when she came back because she felt like it was a lot of money. It did teach me the value of work and not to sell myself short even as a young adult.
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Just because I am kind of an uber fan, I’ve got to say I’ll Be Loving You Forever is from their second album, Hangin’ Tough. Their first album was called New Kids on the Block and was kind of a flop.
I’ve written about NKOTB quite a few times and how they actually aided me in getting into debt. Here’s one post: http://www.thedebtprincess.com/2012/03/22/personal-finance-and-nkotb/
I border on obsessive/groupie/needs-a-life type fandom but man the stories I could tell would have your younger self saying “OH MY GOD.” I know mine still does.
Great post.
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Made the correction. I think I had it confused with a ballad from their first album that Joey sang in all his prepubescent glory.
Did I really write that it was off of their first album? I certainly know better than that. While Hangin’ Tough was the first album of theirs I bought, I had all of them.
shanendoah@the dog ate my wallet recently posted…Sunday Evening Post #84
No, I had a mistake in my note. Fixed now.
MAHKY MAHK!! =)
I personally couldn’t stand NKOTB but please know that my wife enjoyed every minute of that song. *sigh* By the way babysitting has drastically changed since you were a teenager. My wife and I pay $15/hr for our daughter and I don’t even want to know what the going rate is for two children.
Marky Mark wasn’t in NKOTB; his brother, Donnie, was.
I think your wife is super cool. I think you also might be getting ripped off, but then again, I don’t know where you live and maybe that’s actually a bargain. We pay $10/hour for our daughter when we have a non-grandparent babysitter. It’s a freaking racket.
Actually, Marky Mark WAS in NKOTB, but dropped out before they ever recorded an album. If Marky Mark had stayed, there would have been no Joey.
I will also happily admit that I owned the Good Vibrations CD and went and saw Marky Mark in concert. Sadly, it lasted only 45 minutes.
shanendoah@the dog ate my wallet recently posted…Sunday Evening Post #84
Then technically it doesn’t count.
It’s practically extortion. Daycares cost $600/week for two kids in our area!
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MAHKY MAHK!! =)
I personally couldn’t stand NKOTB but please know that my wife enjoyed every minute of that song. *sigh* By the way babysitting has drastically changed since you were a teenager. My wife and I pay $15/hr for our daughter and I don’t even want to know what the going rate is for two children.