Money Lessons I Taught My Kids That No One Taught Me
It's no secret that I haven't always been good with money. However, like most parents, I want better for my kids. Here are the steps I took to help prevent them from financial struggles later in life.
As someone who long struggled with money management, I have intentionally worked to be better at teaching my children in hopes that they will be better than I was.
Most of the thinking that I do in life is very forward thinking and I hate the idea of me leaving this earth not knowing if they are being financially provided for. This is probably connected to the fact that my dad died when I was 19, and I was the one left to deal with everything by myself.
It's no secret that money can make or break a person, and while I don't aspire to make billionaires out of my kids, I want nothing more than to see them comfortably pay their bills in adulthood, avoid debt, and learn to slow their spending when necessary.
Teaching kids to manage money doesn't come naturally, especially as someone who was never formally taught. Although I am forever thankful my mom taught me to create a basic budget and how to budget a checkbook.
If you have ever struggled with:
Teaching kids smart spending
Getting your kids to save money
Knowing if you should pay for chores
I will share what we've done in each of these areas to help our kids better understand how money works. While it’s still early in the game, our younger two (the ones I actually taught about money) are now twelve and fourteen years old and know a lot more about managing money than most adults.
In fact, our daughter, Kaida was even featured in Wall Street Journal as a teen who invests! I’m still stunned over that one.
No matter what age your kids are (or even if you need this yourself), I will break down the simple tools we put into place to help establish smart financial habits, and create a healthy relationship between spending and saving.