More Money Podcast - From the Archives: Relistening to My Grandma and Her Story Financial Resilience

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

If you liked the episode where I interviewed my maternal grandpa, then you'll love this episode where I interview my paternal grandma! Audrey Moorhouse immigrated from Scotland to Canada with her husband in her 20s when my dad was about 3 years old. She had a rough childhood to say the least being brought up in foster care, but through all of her struggles, she was able to build a beautiful life for herself in British Columbia, and show me, her granddaughter, just how resilient us Moorhouses are. This episode originally aired on May 17, 2016.To find the original show notes for this episode visit, jessicamoorhouse.com/50Follow meInstagram @jessicaimoorhouseThreads @jessicaimoorhouseTikTok @jessicaimoorhouseFacebook @jessicaimoorhouseYouTube @jessicamoorhouseLinkedIn - Jessica MoorhouseFinancial resourcesMy websiteMy bestselling book Everything but MoneyFree resource libraryBudget spreadsheetWealth Building Blueprint for Canadians course Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to the More Money podcast. I'm your host, Jessica Morehouse, and so excited to be back here with you to share this really special episode that was integral for when I was writing a certain section of my book, Everything But Money. I'm talking about the interview that I conducted during the first year of me having the podcast with my paternal grandmother, Audrey Morehouse. So my dad's mom, she is

originally from Scotland and immigrated here in her early twenties with her husband and my dad when he was two or three or something like that so they could make a new life for themselves in British Columbia and they started in Vancouver then made their way way up north after that in a Terrace BC if you know where that is and she's been there ever since and I'm really excited because I have not been to Terrace since I was really young I don't think I to Terrace since I was really young. I don't think I, I don't know if I actually have any memories of Terrace.

That's how young I was, but Audrey's turning 90 this July for her. And I, you know, obviously I need to be there for her 90th birthday. That's kind of a big birthday. So I'm really excited to, you know, be able to visit her and give her a hug and just have a really good time. And the reason this was an episode I really wanted to share with you again, because it was originally episode 50 and recorded it almost 10 years ago, is because without this interview, even though I conducted other interviews with her while I was writing my book, this was really the foundation for being able to explore

part of my money story and my generational trauma that I may have inherited from her and just understanding her money story and her past makes a lot of sense why I have certain anxieties and fears around money. And you'll understand why from learning her story. She has a very, it's so funny how she talks, it's almost as if, oh, well, that's just how it was.

But I'm like, oh my gosh, that was a heavy childhood. That was intense. I don't know if I'd come out the other side of it with such a positive attitude. But yeah, she has a really interesting story of resilience and just, you know, dealing with life however it comes to you. And so I hope you really like this episode with my grandma Audrey. And with that, let's get to it. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a With that, let's get to it. and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at ZenSurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen.

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Okay. So I'm excited to chat with you because I've actually always really wanted to know your side of the story and your history because you've lived a very fruitful, interesting life. So I think I'm excited because I don't know. I think so. I'm not too sure about that. Oh, I think so.

Well, I was born in a really, sorry I wasn't born there, I was born in Inch, Scotland, I-N-S-C-H, it's a very small village. Then I moved to an even smaller village, I think, in inland. And I was there until I left for college. Where did you go to college? I went to college in Aberdeen, which is a big port city. And I spent three years there. And it was very interesting. It was great to get out in the world. What did you study in university or college? Well, it was a teaching course.

It was at a teacher's college. I didn't actually go to university. It was separate from the university. If you wanted to teach high school, you went to university first and then did your last year at the teacher's college, but I was going to be a primary intermediate teacher, so I went to the teacher's college and did three years there. Why did you want to become a teacher?

First of all, I thought I would want to be a nurse about my third year of high school and found I didn't like blood very much. And then I decided that teaching sounded like a good idea and I just pursued that. I'm glad I did. I've always enjoyed teaching. I hear horror stories sometimes now. Yeah, I think teaching, just the whole industry has changed a lot since like just in the past 10 to 20 years. There's a lot of ins and outs and ups and downs about it. And it's, you know, you're either cut out for it or you're not, I think. And it's, I think I was and I've enjoyed it and really glad I took

the course you know but into Canada I had to take a couple of courses because you know coming from one system to another you had to sort of just justify who you were and when your dad was just a baby, I was taking an English course, no it wasn't an English course, sorry, it was a psychology course, and teaching full time, and doing essays on the weekend, and trying to get going with a two-year-old. It was heavy going. Oh yeah, that sounds like a stressful time. But survived it and then when you're, oh I taught at David Lloyd George School down

Grand, just off Granville, you'll know where that is. Yeah, yeah, in Vancouver, yeah. And I taught there for, what was it, three years I think? Yeah, I think it was three years before I came up to Terrace. That was a huge move for us because we opened business and I didn't teach for a bit and then had Lisa and went back to teaching when she was three years old. So I've had lots of ups and downs and busy times. Yeah. So when, at what point did you, so you were a teacher in Scotland for a little bit and

then you decided to move? I taught about three years before your dad was born. And then we came to, decided to make a big move. Things weren't good in Britain then, you know, because there was a slowdown on work and lots of things going on. And we decided that maybe we'd make a break and just go to a new country. I wasn't the one that initiated it. You were a good sport.

I thought I didn't have to do that, but decided that okay, if that's what we were going to do, we'd do it. I was very fortunate because I was in Vancouver for about, oh gosh, we came in March and I had a job lined up by February the next year. Wow that's really great. Yeah try that now. Yeah no. I'm like that now and I had a really good principal on Mr. Buckley and he was very kind and sort of helped me with all the things I didn't quite know about Canada and had to do right there and then.

Did you find, like, there were quite a few cultural differences? Did you find it really tough to kind of get comfortable here? Yes, I think a lot of it was coming from a small place too, you know, and to the big city I mean I had done three years in Aberdeen of course was when I was in college and it's pretty big but Vancouver's even bigger and and You know just getting established and a new place to you know, we had to rent and then Finally, we bought a little house down on just opposite Sir Wilfred Laurier, just off the street. Once we had our own place in that, it was a little easier. Luckily,

there was no language difficulty or anything, so that made it a whole lot easier. But yeah, there were differences, you know, that made a few faux pas here and there, but made it through. Yeah, for sure. It's just kind of funny that you mentioned that you bought a house in Vancouver when you were there. Cause I'm like, oh man, had you kept it or you stayed in Vancouver? That was actually the last time we'd say,

I don't think it's there anymore, Jessica. It was on West 59, right opposite St. Wilfrid Laurier School and Churchill was just up from there, you know. And we paid $11,900. No, oh my gosh. Yeah. And we checked on it maybe about 10 years ago and the lot itself was what was it, $300,000 or something. Probably a whole lot more now in the location because it was near Oak Street Park.

Oh my gosh. No, guaranteed that lot is probably worth a million dollars. Exactly. Oh, and your dad used to love visiting his little friend on the next street. Yeah. And they got up to a few little scrapes, the two of them, once in a while. His best friend's name was Tony, and Tony and he got into little things they shouldn't sometimes, but he survived.

Yeah, Dad seemed like he was a bit of a rascal. He was, but he hasn't changed all that much. He's still, you know, the little guys in there. Yeah. Oh my gosh. But it was a nice neighborhood and the people we got to know were really kind and generous and included us in a lot of things and that helped a lot, you know. And then as I say, I was working so much and that and you just, you know, you're young, you muddle through some of them.

Yeah, exactly. So coming from Scotland to Vancouver and then moving from Vancouver to Terrace, we see that must have been also a huge change. I can't even, because I mean, just the winters alone must have been a big shock. Well, very similar to the winters I grew up with though. Maybe milder, a little milder up here because I remember back in the 50s and we had one really bad winter and it was so windy that things were, some of the outer buildings where I lived, the roofs were blowing off. You tried to go around the corner and you blew back.

That's when I was in high school. It brought back a lot of things when we came up here. The winters up here aren't too bad. We have the odd, you know, we'll get the pineapple express here. And you'll have a couple of weeks when it's a little bit iffy. But once that's gone, you know, we don't have really hugely bad winters. You go by how much you shovel up here. I guess you get used to it.

I'm still not really used to the Toronto winters. They still get me every year. Every time they mention Toronto and you have some real dillies this winter. It hasn't been super consistently bad, but it's just when you think it's all good and it was actually quite warm, I think back in maybe March or February or something like that. And then the next week it dropped down to like minus five and you're like, I thought we were done. Oh, I know.

Well, this is the thing, you know, with me, my rhododendrons are all out up here and, well, they're not fully out, but there's another week they'll be completely out. And we've had azaleas in town for quite a while. So, you know, it's beginning, we're later this year than usual. So usually it's a couple of weeks before this, things are blooming, so nothing to fear to Vancouver. Yeah, no that's true. I do miss Vancouver's weather. I mean, my cherry tree in the backyard is, I noticed the petals were blowing off. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free.

Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. This episode of the More Money Podcast is supported by Go RVing Canada. I've been doing a ton of traveling this year for my book tour, and the real hard part about it is living out of a suitcase for weeks on end.

That's one of the perks of RVing. No suitcases at all, because you've got a home on wheels that can take you wherever you want to go. No wonder over 2 million Canadians own RVs. There are just so many benefits to RVing, like being able to take off whenever you like, go on a short weekend getaway, or a longer road trip across the country. And with a Canadian dollar where it is, it might make the most financial sense to redirect your travel plans to something more domestic to stretch your dollar further. Plus, have you seen Canada? It's absolutely gorgeous. This is all to say that

there's never been a better time to think about RVing for your next trip. If you're interested in exploring the RV lifestyle, visit gorvying.ca for everything you need to know. The recently redesigned website is the top resource for all things RVing, from trip guides and an RV matchmaking quiz, to tips and tricks, campground locator, and more. Once again, that's go RVing.ca. Did you ever miss Scotland? Did you ever want to move back? Did you ever get homesick? Never really wanted to move back, Jessica, but yes, you do feel homesick. I think a lot of it is,

especially if you're pressured or anything, you know, and there's always pressure when you move. You sort of get this sort of longing to go down a certain road and the road isn't there, you know. So it's a little bit nostalgic that way. But I've been home twice, I think. Yeah.

Twice. But it was a long time. Like, your dad was about 16, I think, the first time we went home. Yeah, you told us about that. Yeah, and then I went again when I retired. So but, you know, it would be nice to go back, but I'm not a traveler. I get very sort of uptight if I'm traveling, so I probably won't go back. Yeah, but you've kind of made your home in Terrace and that seems like that's where you

want to be. Yeah, but you folks should all try to go, you know, because it is very different and Anna's been... Yeah, no, we actually really, really want to go. We're going to Paris. I'm excited. Yeah, so I'm very excited. But I'm excited for you. I'd love to go there.

It's been on my bucket list. And it's it was just one of those things where there's so many places I want to go, especially I'd love to go to Scotland. It's just so beautiful there. But I'm like, well, I feel like I kind of want to go to Paris first. Find it very different if you do go to Scotland because everything, I always joke when I come back, everything shrunk, you know, because we're so used to the mountains up here in Paris. We had hills in Scotland that we thought were really high and then went back and they are not high at all.

So, I mean the highlands, yes, but not where I lived in Lamston. So, yeah. Yeah. No, that's definitely on the plans to do kind of an England, Scotland trip. You've done a lot. All of you have traveled more than I have, but I think you really should, and especially before family comes and that, because the opportunity isn't there after that, or not as much.

Yeah, it's definitely harder once you start having little kidlets, though it's not in our plans anytime soon. So I think we still have a few more years to get some traveling. I think you guys are a lot smarter than my generation were because it was almost expected of you to be married by the time you were 21 or 22. Well, yeah, things have changed so much since then, right? Yeah, I was married at 21. but I wouldn't do that again. I'm going to have an opportunity, but I think it's better to live your life a little

bit. Yeah, and I think it was just in your generation and my parents' generation, it was a little bit more kind of the thing to do to get married early and start a family young. And I think because I lived through that as a kid, as much as I loved having young parents, they had more energy and it was great. I also saw the things that they had to sacrifice. And that's one thing that I just didn't really want to do.

So I'm like, I definitely want to have a family one day. I think I'll regret looking back and not having one, possibly. But I also really didn't want to have the same regrets as my parents. They weren't able to travel because they had a family really young and it's only in their kind of 40s and 50s that they were able to do that. And I'm like, oh, I don't want to wait that long to do some things that I want to do. But I mean, there's pros and cons to delaying having a family. So it's what it is kind of thing.

Yeah. Well, each to his own. As I say, with me, it was a whole different thing. It was sort of getting away and being on my own sort of thing and away from the family I grew up with and that and just a lot of things. You know, just looking back, I wish I'd traveled because I'm sorry I didn't. Because I'm not a good traveler now. I get anxious. Yeah. Kind of curious because I don't really know anyone that's retired besides you and

my grandpa. How do you... So we must seem absolutely injured. No, that's not true. What fascinates me, especially because you've been retired for a little while now. Well, since I was 62 and I'm 80 now. That's crazy to me. That's crazy to me. That's crazy. In my mind, I am really focused on obviously

saving for retirement, but I can't wrap my mind around not working for 20, 30, 40 years and just living off of money I've saved. How do you do that? How do you make sure you don't accidentally spend too much? I'm very careful Jessica. I wasn't always this way. It was a lot more of a spendthrift in my younger years. But since we came to Canada, I've had to be very careful anyway. And I've always sort of just worked with what I had you know sort of thing and now a well before just the year I retired I think I changed everything to monthly so I most of my other things that I have my accounts I have to pay I pay monthly so it automatically, most of them are taken out of the bank. So my check goes in, bye bye to all these things and whatever's left is mine.

And I've managed pretty much to live within the pension except with this having to do the roof and things like that. Yeah, the little things that pop up. Oh, and the car. I mean, I bought a car back in 2007, I guess, so it's getting old now. But anyway, that was a little harder for me because I put, what did I put? I think I was paying 300 and something, near 370 a month month or something plus the insurance on it. That was a bit of a strain, but I knew I had to do it. I'm careful.

What kind of things besides being very strict with your budget, and that's something that I try to do, I was really good at budgeting and being really strict when I had like absolutely no money and just moved out just because I really had no choice. I'm like, well, if I want to save up some money, I have to be really diligent. And then after a couple of years, it's, you know, you kind of get a little lazy and now I'm kind of getting back to that strict budget thing

just because I want to see if I can do it again. But what I'm curious about is what kind of things do you do to save money or just, I don't know, I feel like especially my generation, we do kind of sometimes try to take the easy way out or spend money just for convenience sake, but what kind of things do you do to make sure that your dollar stretches as far as it can? Well, because I'm on a limited budget, I pretty, as I said, I pretty well know what my accounts are every month, and I know what my leeway is, and I don't travel much, and a lot of friends do. So if I'm traveling and I've been lucky because Lisa's been with

the airline, she's not in the airline any longer, so I will have to pay full fare now. That's too bad. I've been lucky that way. I've only gone down say once a year to Vancouver and that, and so on, that usually I'm very conscious of where my budget is and what can be done and what can't be done. So pretty much live within it. Yeah. I think it's kind of keeping it simple is the key. Yeah. And that was my interview with my grandma Audrey Morehouse. It was originally episode 50. So if you wanted to check out the show notes for that episode, you would just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash 50.

And if you ever want to find the show notes for any episode under the sun, just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash podcast. Now like I've mentioned, I include her story. I include the story of my maternal grandfather Jacques Hardy, which was originally episode 29. And we just did a realist an episode of that. I include both of their stories in my book. I also include the story of my maternal grandmother, Colombe Hardy in my book, unfortunately was not able to record an interview with her for my podcast before she passed away.

I'm not even sure if I started the podcast at that point. I don't think so because yeah, I recorded my grandfather. Basically, I think it was maybe a year before he passed away on my podcast and I had just started my podcast. That's why it was episode 29. So that's one of those things where it's like, if you don't have a podcast, I don't care. If you can, record the stories of your parents, of your grandparents, of your great grandparents if they're still around.

Because once they're gone, you lose something. You lose the tone of their voice. You just lose their voice a little bit. And so I really cherish. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk

from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at ZenSurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. These episodes I was able to make with my grandma Audrey and my grandpa Jacques because they're really special. Sometimes I listen to them just to, I mean, Audrey's still around so I can just call her, but Jacques I, you know, sometimes listen to and also,

you know, my mom and my uncles can listen to it just to hear his voice if you want. And that's kind of something really, really nice and special. So just an idea. If you're like, huh, maybe I should do that. You can record a conversation with your phone these days. So it's that easy. Got something special going on tomorrow. I'm going to drop the recording from my kickoff event for my book tour in Toronto. So I was joined by my MC co-host Melissa Leong. You probably already know her. She was on the podcast a while ago. I'll have to find out that episode number, but she was on the show to talk about her

book Happy Go Money, which is an incredible book. I highly recommend it. She was also writing her first children's book coming up. She just announced it on social media. So that's something that we can all look forward to. And she was nice enough to join me on stage. She was so a man, what a pro. She's so incredible. And we did a little fireside chat and audience Q and A, and then I was basically signing books

and meeting everyone who came to my event for the next hour and a half after that. And this is the recording and I really wanted to share it with you in case you weren't able to make it or you just wanted to know what the heck happened. It was like such a whirlwind. So that's what's going on the podcast tomorrow. And then the week after that, very exciting, I got my first new interview of season 20.

I told you I was going to sprinkle in a bunch of new interviews, not just re-listening episodes for the season. And, you know, I'm actually sprinkling in quite a few interviews. And this one I'm really excited about. This is Shanna Game. She's never been on my podcast surprisingly, but I've been on hers and she has a book coming out. And so we did a little podcast swap. So I can't wait to share that episode with you next week. So thank you so much for listening. And, you know, again, keep up today with me and the book and the book tour. All information can be found at jessicamorehouse.com

slash book or get on my newsletter at jessicamorehouse.com slash book or get on my newsletter at jessicamorehouse.com slash subscribe or follow me on Instagram at jessicaimorehouse. But with that, I'll let you go and I will see you back here tomorrow for that special episode of my Toronto book tour event. The More Money Podcast would not be possible without the amazing talents of podcast producer Matt Rideout, who you can find at mravcanada.com.