My name is Samantha Chen, and I’ve always been what people call “financially responsible” – though that’s mostly because I had no choice. Growing up in a household where money was always tight taught me early that every dollar mattered, every purchase required careful consideration, and debt was something to be feared rather than embraced.
My parents, David and Linda Chen, had immigrated from Taiwan when I was five years old. They worked tirelessly to build a life for our family – Dad as a maintenance supervisor at a local factory, Mom as a seamstress taking in alterations from home. They spoke often about the importance of education, of working hard, of never spending more than you earned.
