5 Money Lessons Parents Teach Watchful Teens
When you were growing up, did your parents ever tell you to “do what I say, not what I do!” You know what I mean. They tell you to do one thing, but you see them doing something completely different. Like “eat your vegetables! they’re good for you!” and you never see the jolly green giant anywhere near their plates. LOL! My mom said it all the time and there was a message sent to me loud and clear. Basically, as a child, I was confused as heck. LOL!
Well guess what?
I’m a parent now and I do the same thing! LOL! But when it comes to the way I handle money, I should be more careful with the mixed messages I send to my BabyGirl. Which is why this USAA article, 5 Money Lessons Parents Teach Watchful Teens, caught my attention. It outlines 5 very important money lessons (read: mistakes) we are teaching our children without realizing it, but it also recommends ways to correct them. Here’s one of my most common mistakes:
What Kids See
Plastic is King
What They May Think
You don’t need money to pay for things, as long as you have a wallet full of credit cards.
What Parents Can Do
Ask your child or teen to hold on to a credit card receipt until the bill comes. Then show how everything is paid all at once at the end of the month. Explain how interest charges work and how quickly they can add up.
This is definitely something I need to correct – PRONTO. I whip out some form of plastic every single day. I wonder what she learns by watching me pay with credit and hearing me complain about how much I hate cash. Lawd, I’m going to drive my child to a life of debt! LOL
She’s also heard me say credit card debt is bad so I think she knows that I pay my credit card bills in full every month with real money. I probably shouldn’t assume though because I could be completely wrong. Next month, I’m going to try a modified version of what USAA recommends. I’ll show her my expense tracking spreadsheet and let her process the online payments. Then I’ll show her the zero balance on my credit card and the lower balance in my checking account. Less effective than exchanging cold hard cash, but it’s the best I can do.
Check out the article to read the other four [bad] money lessons we teach our teens and how to fix them.
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Well it’s a good thing for my future kids, nieces and nephews that I love fruits and veggies.
I do agree about the plastic thing though, although my dad did tell me never to carry a balance on the card – to immediately pay off the exact amount you owe, the minute you spend it.
As a result, I’ve never had consumer credit card debt..
I was so perfect with my money up until about two years ago – this is coming from the girl who NEVER spent money (and was appalled at those who spent $7 on lunch alone!), saved every dime since the first savings account was opened at age 10, refused to have a credit card/debt, etc. and who has a mama who’s filed for bankruptcy twice in her lifetime. I guess when you let your life spiral out of control, so does your money. I’m now finally setting into a pattern of control and staying put (moving five times in three years didn’t help me financially at all!) so now when I have children, I can tell them exactly what I did and shouldn’t have done and pray they follow my good examples!
I never use a credit card in front of my daughter because at five, she’s very impressionable, yet not quite mature enough to understand how it works and the complexities. What I do use constantly is my debit card, and she understands that the money is debited immediately from my account, so I must have sufficient funds in the account to make the transaction. So now when we go to buy something, she asks me if I have the money to cover it. Depending on what it is, I then say yes or no. ;-)
As she gets older, we’ll defintely get more in depth about credit cards and debt.
LOL! Your comment made me laugh. Do you REALLY think a 5 year old understands the difference between a credit card and a debit card? [-SM]
Wow! Thanks for the post today. This is something I need to work on with my tween as well.
I think it’s good that you are using the plastic in front of her… and by “hating cash”, you’re teaching her about bonuses and Cashbacks provided by credit cards. The credit card being a tool, if you use it just like a paper check (recording all credit card purchases in your checkbook or spreadsheet regularly) I don’t see how it could adversely affect BG.
I think it was always impressionable to me as a youngin’ that writing a rubber check could be technically be considered a “crime” or fraud… so if one used a credit card without having the $ to cover the purchase, to me that seemed like a “crime”, too. In fact, I remember that it was a proverb about “the wicked one is borrowing and not paying back” that finally impacted me as a twenty-something. It mentally put me on the *other* side of the fence… how would i view someone who constantly borrowed dough (even from a CC company) and never paid the money back? Uh… a loser.
I think BG has seen so much more of your Savings habits, it would definitely outweigh any “plastic corruption” :) influence! Plus, who could live without the concise, accurate list of purchases that dear CC Statement sends us every month? Cash purchases and receipts can be lost, forgotten, etc. Mr. Discover doesn’t ever let me get away with THAT!
When my son was much younger, he asked if we could go somewhere special – I don’t remember where it was, but maybe a fast food restaurant with a play area. I explained to him that we couldn’t go because I didn’t have the money. He told me “Just go to that machine and get some more!”. Although he was young, I took that opportunity to begin explaining how debit cards/ATM cards work and have tried to continue that as my kids have gotten older. I also try to share some of the money mistakes I’ve made – like when I started college and got my first credit card and maxed it out within a couple of months. :( Yikes!
This is a good idea!!!! Although I don’t use plastic outside of my debit card.. LOL.. but it’s perfect to share with my teen who thinks money grows on trees.. it’s amazing that I have 2 children and one is financial stable (son) and the other lets money burn a whole in her hand she can’t get it out fast enough!
I left you an award today at my original blog here is the post http://not-so-normal-girl.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-got-award.html
My son is 8. I wanted to teach him about spending money so I opened him a “bank account” with his allowance. It is a book that we use as his “check” registry. When he has the money he can buy stuff and when he doesn’t then he doesn’t buy stuff. I want to show him how to spend money responsibly at a young age. I hope it works.
My parents never bothered to explain their financial habits to me and with hindsight, I wish they had. I think its a great idea to teach good money practices from an early age – a child can give any kind of meaning to what they see being done, without necessarily appreciating the saving / sacrifice that went into buying that new car / going on that holiday.
hey, tone the use of “LOL!”
it’s so annoying to see it in every second sentence.
Hey, I’ve got an easy fix for you. LOL! Don’t read my blog. LOL!
LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! [-SM]
I appreciate this issue. We are trying very hard to teach our son about money, (saving for what you want, spending less than you have, etc.) It has been slow going, but he is starting to “get” it. Well worth the effort.
SM,
In response to your question, believe it or not, she does. I dumbed down the explanation to simply, with credit cards you buy now and pay later, and with debit cards, you buy now, pay now. She understands that when I say we don’t have the money for something, it’s because it’s not in the bank. (debit card use, obviously.) She’s been to the bank with me so many times, including to deposit money in her own account, that this does actually resonate with her.
(Of course since she’s seen me deposit money, she wanted to know WHERE the money went if it wasn’t in the account.)That’s when I had to explain BILLS. You know, like gas, electricity, food, etc. She was fascinated that we pay for all that! ;-) But at least she appreciates WHY we can’t afford something…
My daughter’s only 3 but it’s amazing to see how your habits lead to indelible marks on their history. My wife and I both like to shop. Now, we’re major bargain shoppers but now our daughter loves to look at things and wants to buy a lot of things, as well. We have to be really conscious of our choices. The only insurance she has for her future is the knowledge of how to manage her money well and on her own. I hope we can teach her that.
Jerry
I totally agree with you. I haven’t been blessed with children yet, but I, too, think that it’s never too early to think about how what you do affects them. But I have to tell you a little story from my childhood. Whenever I was out grocery shopping with my dad, he would always pay with checks. As far as I was concerned, if he still had CHECKS, he could still buy stuff :)
Oh the wonderment of little minds.
I just saw breagha’s comment and remembered telling my mom to charge things so that she wouldn’t have to pay. Then I was puzzled when I saw her sitting at the table writing out checks for bills. It just didn’t make sense to me. This is why I’m very fincance conscious when Mini Me is around, and I like to take the time to explain things to her. Kids are little sponges, anyway, and since it’s only her and me, she’s very focused on every move I make!