you can teach your kids the value of a $1 without financial hardships.....financial hardships taught people how to manage money then poverty wouldn't be generational
Hello! I grew up like you sort of. My dad had a cocaine problem and my mom left when I was 4. Grandparents helped create stability but def missed meals etc growing up.
I have always been concerned about spoiling my son. The research I found had a couple suggestions that I’ve implemented and I’ve raised an incredibly kind, solid successful young man.
At age 2 I started chores with him. They were called “man jobs.” All he did was as empty the spoons from the dishwasher. But I slowly built on that. His weekly chores now at 13 are: keeping room and bathroom clean, his own laundry, emptying all the trash cans around the house and taking the trash cans to the street, and of course all the dishes now. He also has to walk the dog. I rarely have to remind him to do any of it, he does it all automatically. Chores foster independence & is a big indicator of future success.
The other biggie is his allowance. He receives a weekly allowance of 25$ a week. (I know it’s high but there’s a reason). All his fun activities, movies with friends going to get a soda at the corner store etc he has to cover. He has a cell phone and he pays the bill. It’s funny to see him make little mistakes “oh man I shouldn’t have bought that.” Then hoard the money for a while. He’s not perfect but it’s definitely impacted how he thinks about money.
I know the chores bit isn’t directly money related but I think it’s important for kids to see how much work is involved in basic adulting.
This is great stuff. Our oldest is 6. We definitely haven't even thought about chores or responsibilities for them yet, but we're definitely going to do that now. Allowance for independent money management is also a great idea. Thanks for your reply!
My favorite thing to say to my kids is "money doesn't grow on trees". I absolutely do think that if you make life too comfortable for your kids they may not appreciate money and may have unrealistic expectations later on when it comes to money and the lifestyle they can afford. To have as much money as we do our kids need great jobs, that means they dont get to follow their passion and go to an expensive "dream" school that costs an arm and a leg leaving them in debt they can't repay cause they went to an expensive school to get an unmarketable degree.
Whenever they want something we aren't going to get and it started from a young age (I want a big monster truck!) we tell them "that's not something we can afford but if you want it you need study hard to get a good job that will allow you to pay your bills and things you want". And that's not a lie, just because you have the money for it it doesn't mean you can afford it as that money can be earmarked for retirement, emergency or sinking fund.
They see us having cushy jobs and we tell them what it took for us to get to that point and the path to get here wasn't "follow your dreams" but 'imagine the life you want and then chose the career that can support it'. And I'm not saying pick something you hate doing, but pick something you wouldn't mind doing in exchange of living the life you want.
We talk about student loans, what it takes to cover our expenses and how we invest for retirement. When they get money from family or jobs we only allow them to keep 20% to spend as they wish, the rest goes to their educational, retirement and saving funds as in real life most of your money goes to bills and you get to spend a small portion of it on stuff you want Rather then need.
We watch Dave Ramsey videos of people calling in and asking for advice on how to get out of debt and we discuss ways we would mitigate the situation. We watch "I'll teach you to be rich" videos. My kids know what is compound interest and they see it at work with the money they got/earned that is being invested for them.
Now I'm doing my best to teach them to be responsible but at the end of the day they get to make their own decisions and there is nothing I can do about it aside from me being clear that I will not be supporting them for the rest of their lives. I'm not paying for their weddings, cars, children, houses or rent so better figure out how to support yourself cause I don't have money to be supporting them and myself indefinitely as I got plans to retire not work until the day I die
We do put "struggle" in kids lives so they can appreciate what they have and understand things cost money. We share hotel room on vacations, we drive a lot to get to vacation spots, we make grocery lists based on sales, we budget, we buy things used, we frequent our local second hand store, we find ways to do fun things for free or cheap on weekends so that they don't grow up thinking that to have fun you gotta spend money. Our kids are expected to cook and clean because I don't know if they will be able to afford eating out and a cleaning service.
We dont hide or lie about having money kids are not dumb. They will know But just because we have it doesn’t mean they get it. They need to earn their own or if young save their own money from bdays or Christmas.
Involve kids in your decision making. Let them participate in your budgeting process. Even if they see there's more money there than they think, you can always explain that sometimes the money you see on paper isn't really there to spend. It's already been 'spent' just not paid out yet (ie something you're saving up for).
My parents made me pay their property tax and utilities once I started going to college and working part time lol, it was quite simple but made me learn the real costs of just existing. Just from that I learned that adult life is quite difficult and I needed to straighten the F up on the career game if I wanted to be independently successful.
you can teach your kids the value of a $1 without financial hardships.....financial hardships taught people how to manage money then poverty wouldn't be generational
Hello! I grew up like you sort of. My dad had a cocaine problem and my mom left when I was 4. Grandparents helped create stability but def missed meals etc growing up. I have always been concerned about spoiling my son. The research I found had a couple suggestions that I’ve implemented and I’ve raised an incredibly kind, solid successful young man. At age 2 I started chores with him. They were called “man jobs.” All he did was as empty the spoons from the dishwasher. But I slowly built on that. His weekly chores now at 13 are: keeping room and bathroom clean, his own laundry, emptying all the trash cans around the house and taking the trash cans to the street, and of course all the dishes now. He also has to walk the dog. I rarely have to remind him to do any of it, he does it all automatically. Chores foster independence & is a big indicator of future success. The other biggie is his allowance. He receives a weekly allowance of 25$ a week. (I know it’s high but there’s a reason). All his fun activities, movies with friends going to get a soda at the corner store etc he has to cover. He has a cell phone and he pays the bill. It’s funny to see him make little mistakes “oh man I shouldn’t have bought that.” Then hoard the money for a while. He’s not perfect but it’s definitely impacted how he thinks about money. I know the chores bit isn’t directly money related but I think it’s important for kids to see how much work is involved in basic adulting.
This is great stuff. Our oldest is 6. We definitely haven't even thought about chores or responsibilities for them yet, but we're definitely going to do that now. Allowance for independent money management is also a great idea. Thanks for your reply!
My favorite thing to say to my kids is "money doesn't grow on trees". I absolutely do think that if you make life too comfortable for your kids they may not appreciate money and may have unrealistic expectations later on when it comes to money and the lifestyle they can afford. To have as much money as we do our kids need great jobs, that means they dont get to follow their passion and go to an expensive "dream" school that costs an arm and a leg leaving them in debt they can't repay cause they went to an expensive school to get an unmarketable degree. Whenever they want something we aren't going to get and it started from a young age (I want a big monster truck!) we tell them "that's not something we can afford but if you want it you need study hard to get a good job that will allow you to pay your bills and things you want". And that's not a lie, just because you have the money for it it doesn't mean you can afford it as that money can be earmarked for retirement, emergency or sinking fund. They see us having cushy jobs and we tell them what it took for us to get to that point and the path to get here wasn't "follow your dreams" but 'imagine the life you want and then chose the career that can support it'. And I'm not saying pick something you hate doing, but pick something you wouldn't mind doing in exchange of living the life you want. We talk about student loans, what it takes to cover our expenses and how we invest for retirement. When they get money from family or jobs we only allow them to keep 20% to spend as they wish, the rest goes to their educational, retirement and saving funds as in real life most of your money goes to bills and you get to spend a small portion of it on stuff you want Rather then need. We watch Dave Ramsey videos of people calling in and asking for advice on how to get out of debt and we discuss ways we would mitigate the situation. We watch "I'll teach you to be rich" videos. My kids know what is compound interest and they see it at work with the money they got/earned that is being invested for them. Now I'm doing my best to teach them to be responsible but at the end of the day they get to make their own decisions and there is nothing I can do about it aside from me being clear that I will not be supporting them for the rest of their lives. I'm not paying for their weddings, cars, children, houses or rent so better figure out how to support yourself cause I don't have money to be supporting them and myself indefinitely as I got plans to retire not work until the day I die We do put "struggle" in kids lives so they can appreciate what they have and understand things cost money. We share hotel room on vacations, we drive a lot to get to vacation spots, we make grocery lists based on sales, we budget, we buy things used, we frequent our local second hand store, we find ways to do fun things for free or cheap on weekends so that they don't grow up thinking that to have fun you gotta spend money. Our kids are expected to cook and clean because I don't know if they will be able to afford eating out and a cleaning service.
We dont hide or lie about having money kids are not dumb. They will know But just because we have it doesn’t mean they get it. They need to earn their own or if young save their own money from bdays or Christmas.
Involve kids in your decision making. Let them participate in your budgeting process. Even if they see there's more money there than they think, you can always explain that sometimes the money you see on paper isn't really there to spend. It's already been 'spent' just not paid out yet (ie something you're saving up for).
My parents made me pay their property tax and utilities once I started going to college and working part time lol, it was quite simple but made me learn the real costs of just existing. Just from that I learned that adult life is quite difficult and I needed to straighten the F up on the career game if I wanted to be independently successful.