The Value Of A Dollar

Money is important in our lives. It’s not everything, but money does make a difference. How much of it we have and how we manage it essentially details what kind of livelihood we will have or be able to maintain! When it comes to learning about money, some people have good habits and some bad. The one important thing that everybody needs to learn is the value of a dollar. That has been a major theme in my life this week. If you want to start young teaching your kids, here are some tips.

There is a such thing as learned behavior. What you teach your children now will stay with them as they grow old. When it comes to being a parent, I am not one, but I am a child. Children will manipulate situations and take advantage when they know their parents will let them get away with it. So stop and teach them the value of a dollar right now. When you teach them about financial responsibilities, how to navigate bills, and the value of savings, investing, and spending, it’ll make them much more responsible adults. They will learn that money is a precious commodity, not to be thrown away on frivolous things all the time! If you don’t teach them, be prepared to spend your hard-earned money bailing them out.  These are hard truths you will have to face, especially if you don’t have the means to provide for your household and a grown adult later in life!

Teach your children responsibility early. That doesn’t mean making them pay household bills, but they could do some chores around the house for money. When they know they have to work hard for their money, they take it a little bit more seriously. As they get older, they can go from chores to work. They can learn the nuances of opening up banking, savings, and or investment accounts and using credit cards. You can teach them the importance of each of these accounts and how to operate and manage them. You can also begin speaking to them about financial responsibilities that may occur during the teenage years and beyond. That includes things like the value or cost of insurance, cars, apartments, and any other expense they’re likely to incur as they age.

Your kids are going to make mistakes, and that is expected. We were all children who made financially irresponsible choices at one time. That’s ok.  But what you’re not going to do is continuously bail them out of every mistake they make. A part of life is making mistakes, learning from them, and making sure not to do them again! When you bail them out every single time, they are learning that no matter what they do, no matter how much trouble there in, and no matter how much financial responsibility and liability is on you, they can continue with such irresponsible behaviors. That’s something you do not want to promote. Help out when necessary but go about it responsibly. Let them take the lead in actively thinking about and fixing the financial mistakes they make.