My First Financial Memory: A Gold Bracelet and a Pawn Shop

My earliest money memory isn't a story of a piggy bank or a first allowance. It’s a story of a gold bracelet, an inheritance from my great-grandmother, and a pawn shop in Russia in the early nineties.

​In those days, money was a constant source of stress. The country was in a period of financial hardship, and my mom’s salary was often delayed by days or weeks. During those gaps, when we literally had no money to buy food, my mom would take that gold bracelet to the pawn shop. We’d get just enough to get by, and the moment my mom’s paycheck arrived, we would immediately go back and buy the bracelet back, paying a significant markup each time. It was a cycle that repeated itself countless times.

​Years later, the bracelet made another appearance in my life. I desperately wanted some new clothes for the start of the school year. My mom didn’t have the money at that moment, but she would in a few days. She asked me if getting the clothes today was worth paying those percentages to the pawn shop, compared to waiting a few days for the paycheck and not having to pay that extra money.

​That was my first real lesson on the cost of money over time, and it forced me to think deeply about the value I was getting from it. It was about making intentional choices and accepting the consequences. I realized I couldn't expect others to solve my problems or for things to magically appear in my life.

​The bracelet, a family heirloom from my great-grandmother, is now a treasured possession of mine. It no longer represents a source of emergency funds, but a symbol of financial resilience. Just recently, my mom visited me and asked, "Do you still have the bracelet?" "Of course I do," I told her. I remember the childhood memories and the pawn shop, but today, for me, it's a symbol of something else - of resilience and generational memory.

​Today, when I look at that bracelet, I feel a deep sense of gratitude. It’s more than just a piece of jewelry; it's a tangible link to a past of resourcefulness and strength. It's a reminder that financial struggles are part of my family's story, but they are not the whole story. I'm grateful for the difficult lessons my mom learned because they helped lay the foundation for my own mindset: self-reliance, intentionality, and the belief that I am capable of figuring things out, even during hard times.