This episode is why I’m so glad I have a podcast. Finally, I have a medium to share my grandpa’s incredible story. He literally started out dirt poor. Poverty-stricken was actually the term he used. He was born in Saint-Sylvère, Quebec, had 8 siblings, and had to start paying his own way at 17.
If you think that sounds hard, his dad was orphaned at 5 years old and started working at 11! He eventually became a butcher and sold his meat door-to-door. But still, when he got married, all he had to his name was $20 in his pocket and a horse and buggy. He even had to declare bankruptcy at one point in his life.
You really do need to listen to the episode to fully grasp the trials and tribulations my grandpa had to overcome. It sure makes me feel grateful for how I was brought up. I mean, I complain that I had to work a part-time job in high school to afford university (poor me), while my grandpa literally had no options when it came to post-secondary.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for the military I don’t know if he would have been able to afford starting a family and eventually uproot them across the country to live in Chilliwack, BC.
What I loved most about our conversation together was finding out how money-savvy he was. Even without any good financial role models in his life, my grandpa was smart enough to save a good part of his pay cheque and buy some Canada Savings Bonds that eventually helped him pay off his mortgage (on the house he still lives in by the way), right before interest rates skyrocketed in the 1980s. I still can’t believe he was able to put more than 50% down for a down payment and his mortgage was only $83/month!
A big thank you to my grandpa for recording this episode with me (I can’t wait to share it with him). This will be a recording I cherish for years to come.
And since I haven’t mentioned it on my podcast or on the blog yet, next Wednesday’s episode will be my last for the year. It’ll be my 30th episode and I definitely need a break to ramp up my website redesign before the New Year. As always, thanks for listening, and make sure to tell me what you think by leaving me a review on iTunes, Stitcher, or tweeting me.
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