Happy Friday, Divas!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful week and has an enjoyable weekend!
Today I had a great dinner with one of my younger cousins - a chance to catch up, celebrate her successes and discuss her "learning opportunities" from this past year. She's a senior in college and one of her biggest struggles during her college years was budgeting. During our talk, it clicked that while I was always told about saving money and being frugal, no one ever actually showed me how to create a budget or balance a checkbook. I, like most people, had to learn by trial and error. Lots of trials and tons of errors :)
What are we teaching our children? How are we adequately preparing them to handle their finances as adults? Just think how different your financial standing could be if someone had taken the time to teach you at 9 or 10 years old how to budget and manage your allowance funds? If being frugal and saving was a part of your day-to-day routine by the time you became a teenager and had your first real job???
My son currently has to split any money he earns or is given 10-50-40: 10% to church; 50% in savings; and 40% to spend. If we go to the store and he wants something, he has to buy it if it's something that I hadn't previously planned on buying. Having to spend his own money often curbs impulsive spending. If he doesn't have his money (or enough), then he doesn't get it. We don't do allowance advances - I equate that to loans/pay day advances.
After this evening's discussion, I've decided to take things to the next level with him and begin showing him how to "budget" his money when it comes to his video games, eating out, etc. Our children definitely need to see us making wise financial choices, but they, also, need to learn how to do things for themselves in an environment where if they mess up it doesn't affect their credit score or have their lights turned off.
What financial lessons are you passing down to your children? What were the best lessons that you were taught growing up that you still implement in your adult life?
Be Blessed Divas and remember to be a blessing to others :)
~Michelle
Divas With A Purpose has become a source of inspiration and motivation. It's about women being driven, inspiring, victorious and having a plan of action to become the best them they have been called to be. With collaboration, we are making our way through this thing called life as women, mothers, sisters, and friends.
