Zip, scurflle, pat. The small pouch in my beat-up backpack possessed the remaining $5 dollars that my parents had given me before going to school. There was a scholastic book fair on that day and I was ecstatic! The volunteer clerk looks up at me with a disinterested face as my enlightened eyes rested on a prized possession. It was a volume to a Minecraft Book series whose payment I had split with my friend. We had shared the book and I remember the times when we would keep the book for one week then exchange with one another on a different week. Although I delighted in reading the book, for me, it felt like I had wasted my money. It was only $5 dollars at the time, but it felt like thousands since I didn’t get a lot of money from my parents as a kid. I would get around $1 to $2 dollars a week because my parents understood that I wouldn’t need any money for school other than for the necessary school supplies, so I had to bare with what I had. Four weeks of saved money flushed down the toilet. I remember regretting my decision and asking myself if there was a better way to spend money. Then, another opportunity arose at my school cafeteria selling $0.25 cent cookies. I had devised a schedule for when I would spend the $1 dollar throughout the week. I decided that I would get a cookie on the bad days of the week (like Monday) to brightened my day. Rather than spending the money holistically on something that would provide me one-time instant gratification, I learned to divide and conquer my money so that I could reek the benefits over a long period of time. This is the main principle that has governed the way I spend money until today. Right now, I am reading a financial book called “The Richest Man in Babylon” (by George S. Clason) and looking for scholarships online, so that I can be financially literate and successful in the future.