The Financial Illiterate

 

debt, and I was constantly lending her money. As far as I knew, her scholarship did not include recompense for her brother.

Within a few days, though, I was no longer worried. I was jealous!

Cathy's pitch during the appointments was, to use my students' favorite word, "awesome." For a flat fee of $1,000, she offered to gather bids from four local landscaping firms, hire the winner, oversee all activities, and ensure that the job came in on time and on budget. There was no charge for her design.

Cathy's contagious enthusiasm, sound business pro-posal, and beautiful designs netted her six of the fifteen potential clients. Twelve years ago, $6,000 was an unbe-lievable summer job income. Today, $6,000 is an unbeliev-able summer job income!

She spent the rest of July and August supervising the six projects. Every customer was thrilled with the end result. Because she stayed on top of the landscaping companies, jobs actually came in at prices substantially under the norm. In essence, her services paid for themselves.

Referrals started pouring in and she has never looked back. Last year, working only eight months, she made more money than my father and I combined.

At first, it was difficult to accept the fact that my sister, a college dropout before she even got there, was "a mover and a shaker." However, when I saw the type of Christmas and birthday gifts that success translated into, I became fiercely proud of her.

Despite her great achievement, Cathy is still a one-woman operation, preferring to handle all typing, billing, accounts payable, and other clerical duties herself—on