This week’s column is about being young and making life work on a budget and it is largely the words of Ashley Schumann that you will be reading. Ashley is the dear friend of our youngest daughter Meredith, and consequently I have known her since she was three years old. As delightful as she was when she was a little girl, I find her philosophy regarding money to be so wise that it is hard to remember that she is only 28.

Let Ashley talk and you will understand why I think she is so remarkable.

“I was taught that it doesn’t matter how much money you make in your life, it depends on how you spend it. Actually my father just said that to me on the phone the other night. I constantly see people throwing away their money on expensive cars,

expensive clothes, etc. just so people think they have money. Yet these are the people who are living paycheck-to-paycheck struggling to pay their bills so they can look like they have money; yet they’re the ones who do not have money because of how they are spending it.

They are the ones who are drowning in debt and probably one of the reasons why the economy is struggling today. Too many people are spending money that they don’t have. When I make a big purchase, I think to myself first, ‘Do I have the money in my pocket to cover this expense?’ If I don’t, I won’t buy it. I’m proud to say that I have close to $0 in debt, yet I haven’t deprived myself of the things I want to do. I wouldn’t have traveled so extensively unless I had the money…and none of my travels dipped into my savings, that’s there for a reason, not to spend.”

It is no accident that Ashley thinks like that and the key is her father who is Capt. Chuck Schumann of the Sightseer. When Ashley was a little girl, she and her dad would seine the ocean every fall for the menhaden that were there for anyone to get. They would sell them for bait and chances are very good that the “bait money” is still in her savings account.

Another enterprise promoted and made possible by her father.

“In high school, my father and I would travel to NYC and buy in bulk sunglasses, purses, and watches. I set up a great business out of my locker. Kids would come to me all the time to buy the $5 sunglasses I was selling. Considering we would buy 10 pairs for $20, we were making quite a profit, not to mention I was enjoying buying my lunch too. The purses and watches, we sold to local hair salons, friends and other local businesses.” If you live in Wildwood Crest, perhaps you have a pair of those $5 sunglasses lurking in a junk drawer somewhere.

“I think of it as game so it’s fun for me to hunt for bargains. One of the most fun things I do is trash pick. Just as he saying goes… ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ I find the best time to trash hunt is the end of the month when leases end and people are moving out. Fortunately I live in an area where there are a lot of young people, so people are moving in and out all the time. In Wildwood Crest, the best time is the end of the summer season.

That’s when I get all my beach chairs for the next season. I don’t think I’ve ever bought one retail. If I see something valuable in the trash, even if I don’t have a use for it, there’s a market to resell it. Craig’s List is an amazing online yard sale. I use that site frequently to buy or sell items that I have found.”

Ashley even has hints for saving money in the kitchen. She says, “I get requests from my friends and co-workers all the time to help them with their budgets and help them to save money. The first thing I always tell them is to pack their lunch. The weekends are the time that I plan my meals for the week. Sunday is cooking day. I make a big pot of something and eat that every day for lunch, and sometimes dinner. Packing my lunch each day saves me SO much money. I spend about $40 a week for groceries, which consists of three meals a day and snacks. If I were to buy my lunch each day, it would cost me $8 each day.

Now those of you who don’t know this girl may be picturing a scrooge who dresses in sad looking cast-off clothes, never going to parties, and sitting at home with no friends. What a mistaken impression I would be leaving if you thought Ashley was ONLY about money. On the contrary, she is a beautiful young woman with many friends and a “good time” spirit that is irrepressible. She is a sharp dresser who “never paid full price for anything” and a marathon runner who loves traveling on the weekends, when she is not working her second job, to race in exotic places.

Ashley is the person she is because of her own hard work, but also from the intense involvement of a father who was there and who cared. How better to say Happy Father’s Day to all the men out there who are not only on the scene for their children, but also willing to give of themselves to share valuable lessons for living.

ART HALL, publisher