A few weeks ago, however, it once again hit me that not every child gets such an education. One of my daughter's friends came over for an afternoon. I overheard the girls talking about some new toy advertised on TV. My daughter was talking about how she might save up to buy it. The friend told her to just get me to put it on my credit card. She had totally lost the connection (or perhaps never had it) between money and credit.
Even if your children are well-schooled in money management, likely many of their friends are not. What better gift can you give them than financial knowledge? Take the time to mentor your child's friends. It doesn't have to be formal- and probably shouldn't be but make sure that they overhear you talking about budgets or spending. Have your child talk to the friend about his or her savings and how they grow regularly. Ask them about their own knowledge of how to budget and save. Kids are sponges and will pick up these informal lessons and absorb them.
With little effort, you have the ability to teach not only your own children but others how to be money smart.
14 comments:
Nice post. As they say, it takes a village...
My “N” post is right here: http://www.word-nerd-speaks.com/2011/04/nanowrimo.html
And you can find the “M” one here: http://www.word-nerd-speaks.com/2011/04/medical-marijuana.html
Excellent post. I don't think it's ever too early to start talking about money smarts with your kids.
Thanks,
Kerry
Oh, man, when we were growing up we were RIGHT in the middle of the road, financially. We had neat stuff, but never the best stuff. While I never stewed on this point as a kid, there were definitely things I wanted that I couldn’t have. My parents worked very hard for their cash and let both of us kids know at an early age that things weren’t free. I honestly think it helped me greatly in later life because I turned into kind of a stingy bastard when it comes to money. I mean, I know how to have fun but I purchase things very carefully. Great blog post.
Great advice!
This is fantastic advice. I still remember the first time I told my oldest daughter no on something she wanted in the store, "I don't have the money for that today. It's not in my budget." and she said "But can't you put it on your credit card?" to which I replied, "I don't have one." and she said, "That's ok, you can just get one!"
I agree that it's important to teach your children these things. I'm doing my best with my kids but your tips always help me.
Ranks right up there with "but I don't have any money" being answered with "just go put your card in the machine and get some."
Yep, you know if a child mentions putting it on the credit card how the parents pay for things. Scary I say.
♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥
Good advice, definitely takes a village to raise a child.
Amanda - Realityarts-Creativity
Art Blog
WOW - you have some great ideas for blogs. Glad I found you!
This is so true. We always talk about budgets when we go to store.
"Mom, can I have that?"
"I'm sorry, hun. But that one's too expensive. It's not in our budget."
what a great post. start them off young and they'll grow up to be financial whizes.
Great meeting you through the A-Z!
nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Angie, here's to making it this far, congratulations! I have an award for you!!
(A for effort says I!) Plus, your blog is awesome for parenting example!
:)
We LOVE the concept of mentoring your kids' friends. Most of us parents spend a good amount of time with our kid's friends anyway, and whether we realize it or not, we are already teaching them by our tone, body language, and example. How much more of blessing could we be if we stayed aware of it.
Thanks for your great post!
Great post!!
Hi! Stopping by from MBC.
Have a nice day!
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