Cheques (checks) and cash from the ATM are free money

I used to believe that when my parents would use credit cards to pay for things that it was free money. I used to get mad at them for telling me that they didn't have any money when i wanted things. I just thought they could put it on the credit card.

Jamie

When I was little I thought I could solve world famine and poverty by just printing more money and giving it to everyone! I wondered why the governments hadn't thought of it already!

dippingmytoes

When I was little I believed that all you had to write on the top line of a check was what you wanted the money for, and you would get it. So if I wrote "swimming pool" than I would get it.

Camille

i thought that my mom could write a check for anything she wanted cause it was the same as cash she wanted a red car and i couldnt figure out why she just didnt write a check for it

virginia

I used to believe that when you ran out of money, all you had to do is go to an ATM to get some more! I've never proven my theory.

Ultra Loser

I used to believe that with a credit card, you could get anything you wanted for free.

Anonymous

My brother used to believe that if you had a credit card the cashpoint gave you infinite amounts of money. You'd only needed to plot in our desired amount. No wonder why he is a bad economist...

Kim

I used to believe that people could take as much money as they wanted out of atm's (automatic teller machines at banks). I thought you just say how much you want and the machine gives the money to you.

Niyaaz

I used to believe that checks and credit cards allowed you to get anything you wanted with out paying for it.

Diamond

I thought that if you couldn't afford something, you could write a cheque. I confidently told my dad that when I grew up I would save all my money and just write cheques for eveything. He explained bank accounts and ruined everything.

Anon

I used to think that if you paid by cheque you did not have to pay from your savings to buy something. When my mother said she could not afford something I told her to pay by cheque.

David, London

I used to belive that if you went up to an ATM it would just give you money out that is not your own money.

Anon

My Son used to think that if you have no money all you had to do was go to the grocery store and the Cashier would give you some.

Jackie

i thought an ATM machine was something which gave free money!!

Armani

When I was little, from three to eight years old. I thought we could get as much money as you want from an Automatic Teller Machine. My mum kept on trying to explain to me that "Money doesn't grow in the bank" to me and "Money doesn't grow in trees" to my younger brother and therefore we can only take a limited amount of money from the bank. I slowly began to realise a few years later that my family can only withdraw the money my dad earned from the bank.

Anon

When I was little, I believed that banks were places where anyone could go in and take some money for free.

Anon

When I was in kindergarten, my friend and I couldn't figure out why grown-ups didn't just write a check when they needed money- we were convinced if you wrote a check, the bank gave you the money, no questions asked!

check-meister

I used to belive that if yo wrote a check, you didn't have to pay for it. So if my mom said,"I'm sorry honey, but we can't afford that", then I'd say "Just write a check!"

Melissa

When I was a little girl, I used to think that checks were like free money. When my mom explained to my sister and me that we were running out of money for that month, I suggested that she just write checks to pay for everything--problem solved.

Bonnie

I used to think that it was a terrific idea that you could write a cheque to pay somebody instead of giving them money. My naive little brain didn't realise that you had to pay the money into the bank first!

Anon