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May 22, 2008 at 2:10 PM #210072May 22, 2008 at 2:16 PM #209946
dharmagirl
ParticipantHi JennyO –
Yes, it does sound similar! There is nothing wrong with my work ethic. I started babysitting as soon as I could, and at age 14 I lied about my age to get a summer job making sandwiches at a little family owned dump – for $2/hour cash. I worked 40 hours a week and every Friday, when the dad/owner peeled off eight $10 bills to pay me, I was ecstatic.
My motivation to work hard was that my mom refused to spend extra money on Calvin Klein jeans, Adidas shoes, and designer hair products. We agreed that she would give me the amount that she would have spent on Toughskins and Sears brand shoes and I would either make it work of find a way to supplement it if I wanted designer stuff. The thought of going to school in Toughskins was, indeed, a powerful motivator.
However, no one ever taught me about saving, etc. So, when I rented my first apartment, started a cool new job, I just used my credit cards to buy everything. I never thought about how I would pay for it.
At the other end of the spectrum, one of my best friends had to give her parents at least 30% of anything she earned (including gifts of money) so they could put it in a money market account for her. It started with babysitting money and went on through college. By the time she married at age 25, she had at least $25,000 in the bank which, of course, thrilled her thrifty husband.
When you consider how little it takes to build wealth (the miracle of compound interest) if one gets an early start, it’s mind boggling. Yet, to my knowledge, no one FORMALLY teaches kids about this.
May 22, 2008 at 2:16 PM #210014ParticipantHi JennyO –
Yes, it does sound similar! There is nothing wrong with my work ethic. I started babysitting as soon as I could, and at age 14 I lied about my age to get a summer job making sandwiches at a little family owned dump – for $2/hour cash. I worked 40 hours a week and every Friday, when the dad/owner peeled off eight $10 bills to pay me, I was ecstatic.
My motivation to work hard was that my mom refused to spend extra money on Calvin Klein jeans, Adidas shoes, and designer hair products. We agreed that she would give me the amount that she would have spent on Toughskins and Sears brand shoes and I would either make it work of find a way to supplement it if I wanted designer stuff. The thought of going to school in Toughskins was, indeed, a powerful motivator.
However, no one ever taught me about saving, etc. So, when I rented my first apartment, started a cool new job, I just used my credit cards to buy everything. I never thought about how I would pay for it.
At the other end of the spectrum, one of my best friends had to give her parents at least 30% of anything she earned (including gifts of money) so they could put it in a money market account for her. It started with babysitting money and went on through college. By the time she married at age 25, she had at least $25,000 in the bank which, of course, thrilled her thrifty husband.
When you consider how little it takes to build wealth (the miracle of compound interest) if one gets an early start, it’s mind boggling. Yet, to my knowledge, no one FORMALLY teaches kids about this.
May 22, 2008 at 2:16 PM #210045ParticipantHi JennyO –
Yes, it does sound similar! There is nothing wrong with my work ethic. I started babysitting as soon as I could, and at age 14 I lied about my age to get a summer job making sandwiches at a little family owned dump – for $2/hour cash. I worked 40 hours a week and every Friday, when the dad/owner peeled off eight $10 bills to pay me, I was ecstatic.
My motivation to work hard was that my mom refused to spend extra money on Calvin Klein jeans, Adidas shoes, and designer hair products. We agreed that she would give me the amount that she would have spent on Toughskins and Sears brand shoes and I would either make it work of find a way to supplement it if I wanted designer stuff. The thought of going to school in Toughskins was, indeed, a powerful motivator.
However, no one ever taught me about saving, etc. So, when I rented my first apartment, started a cool new job, I just used my credit cards to buy everything. I never thought about how I would pay for it.
At the other end of the spectrum, one of my best friends had to give her parents at least 30% of anything she earned (including gifts of money) so they could put it in a money market account for her. It started with babysitting money and went on through college. By the time she married at age 25, she had at least $25,000 in the bank which, of course, thrilled her thrifty husband.
When you consider how little it takes to build wealth (the miracle of compound interest) if one gets an early start, it’s mind boggling. Yet, to my knowledge, no one FORMALLY teaches kids about this.
May 22, 2008 at 2:16 PM #210062ParticipantHi JennyO –
Yes, it does sound similar! There is nothing wrong with my work ethic. I started babysitting as soon as I could, and at age 14 I lied about my age to get a summer job making sandwiches at a little family owned dump – for $2/hour cash. I worked 40 hours a week and every Friday, when the dad/owner peeled off eight $10 bills to pay me, I was ecstatic.
My motivation to work hard was that my mom refused to spend extra money on Calvin Klein jeans, Adidas shoes, and designer hair products. We agreed that she would give me the amount that she would have spent on Toughskins and Sears brand shoes and I would either make it work of find a way to supplement it if I wanted designer stuff. The thought of going to school in Toughskins was, indeed, a powerful motivator.
However, no one ever taught me about saving, etc. So, when I rented my first apartment, started a cool new job, I just used my credit cards to buy everything. I never thought about how I would pay for it.
At the other end of the spectrum, one of my best friends had to give her parents at least 30% of anything she earned (including gifts of money) so they could put it in a money market account for her. It started with babysitting money and went on through college. By the time she married at age 25, she had at least $25,000 in the bank which, of course, thrilled her thrifty husband.
When you consider how little it takes to build wealth (the miracle of compound interest) if one gets an early start, it’s mind boggling. Yet, to my knowledge, no one FORMALLY teaches kids about this.
May 22, 2008 at 2:16 PM #210097ParticipantHi JennyO –
Yes, it does sound similar! There is nothing wrong with my work ethic. I started babysitting as soon as I could, and at age 14 I lied about my age to get a summer job making sandwiches at a little family owned dump – for $2/hour cash. I worked 40 hours a week and every Friday, when the dad/owner peeled off eight $10 bills to pay me, I was ecstatic.
My motivation to work hard was that my mom refused to spend extra money on Calvin Klein jeans, Adidas shoes, and designer hair products. We agreed that she would give me the amount that she would have spent on Toughskins and Sears brand shoes and I would either make it work of find a way to supplement it if I wanted designer stuff. The thought of going to school in Toughskins was, indeed, a powerful motivator.
However, no one ever taught me about saving, etc. So, when I rented my first apartment, started a cool new job, I just used my credit cards to buy everything. I never thought about how I would pay for it.
At the other end of the spectrum, one of my best friends had to give her parents at least 30% of anything she earned (including gifts of money) so they could put it in a money market account for her. It started with babysitting money and went on through college. By the time she married at age 25, she had at least $25,000 in the bank which, of course, thrilled her thrifty husband.
When you consider how little it takes to build wealth (the miracle of compound interest) if one gets an early start, it’s mind boggling. Yet, to my knowledge, no one FORMALLY teaches kids about this.
May 22, 2008 at 2:59 PM #209981XBoxBoy
ParticipantYour really can’t teach money management in a classroom. Sure, you can teach people how to balance a check book, how to fill out a credit application, or even how to calculate interest. But money management really has to be learned in life. How to forgo one item in exchange for another, or how to appreciate the item that you saved for.
In the summer my parents gave me 25cents a week for the popsicle man who came by every weekday. I could get a popsicle a day for a nickel, or a dreamsicle for 10 cents but then I had to go a day with nothing. No matter how much I cried or begged, when I ran out of money they wouldn’t give me more until next week. I was probably only in second grade when this went on.
By the time I was in high school, my parents were giving me money once a semester to buy clothes. The first semester I bought a bunch of flashy hippy cloths within the first week. By the end of the semester I was sick of them. With each semester I got better at picking out the things that I would value. One semester, I bought almost nothing until the end of the semester, and then I went and bought a purple suede fringe jacket. (Gosh I wish I still had that!) The point being that I learned to postpone my desires for things, and I learned to budget my money. You can construct all the classroom exercises you want, but I don’t think you can really teach that except in the real world.
As other posters noted, parents are the ones that make the difference in this way.
XBoxBoy
May 22, 2008 at 2:59 PM #210049ParticipantYour really can’t teach money management in a classroom. Sure, you can teach people how to balance a check book, how to fill out a credit application, or even how to calculate interest. But money management really has to be learned in life. How to forgo one item in exchange for another, or how to appreciate the item that you saved for.
In the summer my parents gave me 25cents a week for the popsicle man who came by every weekday. I could get a popsicle a day for a nickel, or a dreamsicle for 10 cents but then I had to go a day with nothing. No matter how much I cried or begged, when I ran out of money they wouldn’t give me more until next week. I was probably only in second grade when this went on.
By the time I was in high school, my parents were giving me money once a semester to buy clothes. The first semester I bought a bunch of flashy hippy cloths within the first week. By the end of the semester I was sick of them. With each semester I got better at picking out the things that I would value. One semester, I bought almost nothing until the end of the semester, and then I went and bought a purple suede fringe jacket. (Gosh I wish I still had that!) The point being that I learned to postpone my desires for things, and I learned to budget my money. You can construct all the classroom exercises you want, but I don’t think you can really teach that except in the real world.
As other posters noted, parents are the ones that make the difference in this way.
XBoxBoy
May 22, 2008 at 2:59 PM #210080ParticipantYour really can’t teach money management in a classroom. Sure, you can teach people how to balance a check book, how to fill out a credit application, or even how to calculate interest. But money management really has to be learned in life. How to forgo one item in exchange for another, or how to appreciate the item that you saved for.
In the summer my parents gave me 25cents a week for the popsicle man who came by every weekday. I could get a popsicle a day for a nickel, or a dreamsicle for 10 cents but then I had to go a day with nothing. No matter how much I cried or begged, when I ran out of money they wouldn’t give me more until next week. I was probably only in second grade when this went on.
By the time I was in high school, my parents were giving me money once a semester to buy clothes. The first semester I bought a bunch of flashy hippy cloths within the first week. By the end of the semester I was sick of them. With each semester I got better at picking out the things that I would value. One semester, I bought almost nothing until the end of the semester, and then I went and bought a purple suede fringe jacket. (Gosh I wish I still had that!) The point being that I learned to postpone my desires for things, and I learned to budget my money. You can construct all the classroom exercises you want, but I don’t think you can really teach that except in the real world.
As other posters noted, parents are the ones that make the difference in this way.
XBoxBoy
May 22, 2008 at 2:59 PM #210098ParticipantYour really can’t teach money management in a classroom. Sure, you can teach people how to balance a check book, how to fill out a credit application, or even how to calculate interest. But money management really has to be learned in life. How to forgo one item in exchange for another, or how to appreciate the item that you saved for.
In the summer my parents gave me 25cents a week for the popsicle man who came by every weekday. I could get a popsicle a day for a nickel, or a dreamsicle for 10 cents but then I had to go a day with nothing. No matter how much I cried or begged, when I ran out of money they wouldn’t give me more until next week. I was probably only in second grade when this went on.
By the time I was in high school, my parents were giving me money once a semester to buy clothes. The first semester I bought a bunch of flashy hippy cloths within the first week. By the end of the semester I was sick of them. With each semester I got better at picking out the things that I would value. One semester, I bought almost nothing until the end of the semester, and then I went and bought a purple suede fringe jacket. (Gosh I wish I still had that!) The point being that I learned to postpone my desires for things, and I learned to budget my money. You can construct all the classroom exercises you want, but I don’t think you can really teach that except in the real world.
As other posters noted, parents are the ones that make the difference in this way.
XBoxBoy
May 22, 2008 at 2:59 PM #210135ParticipantYour really can’t teach money management in a classroom. Sure, you can teach people how to balance a check book, how to fill out a credit application, or even how to calculate interest. But money management really has to be learned in life. How to forgo one item in exchange for another, or how to appreciate the item that you saved for.
In the summer my parents gave me 25cents a week for the popsicle man who came by every weekday. I could get a popsicle a day for a nickel, or a dreamsicle for 10 cents but then I had to go a day with nothing. No matter how much I cried or begged, when I ran out of money they wouldn’t give me more until next week. I was probably only in second grade when this went on.
By the time I was in high school, my parents were giving me money once a semester to buy clothes. The first semester I bought a bunch of flashy hippy cloths within the first week. By the end of the semester I was sick of them. With each semester I got better at picking out the things that I would value. One semester, I bought almost nothing until the end of the semester, and then I went and bought a purple suede fringe jacket. (Gosh I wish I still had that!) The point being that I learned to postpone my desires for things, and I learned to budget my money. You can construct all the classroom exercises you want, but I don’t think you can really teach that except in the real world.
As other posters noted, parents are the ones that make the difference in this way.
XBoxBoy
May 22, 2008 at 3:04 PM #209986
CoronitaParticipantYes, and a certain portion of the population will also be drunks, drug addicts, murderers, adulterers, etc.
I still believe that financial education – of some sort – should be required. If Phys Ed is, why not finance?
When my aunt was in 8th grade (in the 1950s), her public school taught the basics: how to balance a checkbook and how to create a simple budget. I think it's a shame that schools don't teach this stuff.
Two years ago, I took my 15 year old godchild shopping for her birthday. She desperately wanted a $70 pair of shoes from Nordstrom's. I caved in and bought them for her. When I mentioned they were expensive she quizzically said, "Is $70 a LOT of money?" I explained that she'd have to work for 11 hours at Starbuck to buy those shoes. She started laughing and said, "oh, very funny!" She thought I was JOKING.
That IS scary….
I don't disagree with you at all. Unfortunately, teaching personal finance is a touchy subject. There are several people who are so P.C. about things, teaching personal finance is deemed taboo. Plus, sorry to say this, I'm sure several public school teachers are woefully inadequate to teach personal finance themselves 🙂
The other interesting thing to note is that i think beyond education, the more systemic problem is the cultural view on credit in this country. There is and has always been the mentality of never really buying something and paying it off in full. It's always been buying stuff on credit, monthly payments,etc. We all do it at all levels. We finance homes, cars, medical, plastic surgery, furniture,etc. It's going to take something drastic before the mentality changes.
[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]
—– Sour grapes for everyone!
May 22, 2008 at 3:04 PM #210054CoronitaParticipantYes, and a certain portion of the population will also be drunks, drug addicts, murderers, adulterers, etc.
I still believe that financial education – of some sort – should be required. If Phys Ed is, why not finance?
When my aunt was in 8th grade (in the 1950s), her public school taught the basics: how to balance a checkbook and how to create a simple budget. I think it's a shame that schools don't teach this stuff.
Two years ago, I took my 15 year old godchild shopping for her birthday. She desperately wanted a $70 pair of shoes from Nordstrom's. I caved in and bought them for her. When I mentioned they were expensive she quizzically said, "Is $70 a LOT of money?" I explained that she'd have to work for 11 hours at Starbuck to buy those shoes. She started laughing and said, "oh, very funny!" She thought I was JOKING.
That IS scary….
I don't disagree with you at all. Unfortunately, teaching personal finance is a touchy subject. There are several people who are so P.C. about things, teaching personal finance is deemed taboo. Plus, sorry to say this, I'm sure several public school teachers are woefully inadequate to teach personal finance themselves 🙂
The other interesting thing to note is that i think beyond education, the more systemic problem is the cultural view on credit in this country. There is and has always been the mentality of never really buying something and paying it off in full. It's always been buying stuff on credit, monthly payments,etc. We all do it at all levels. We finance homes, cars, medical, plastic surgery, furniture,etc. It's going to take something drastic before the mentality changes.
[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]
—– Sour grapes for everyone!
May 22, 2008 at 3:04 PM #210085CoronitaParticipantYes, and a certain portion of the population will also be drunks, drug addicts, murderers, adulterers, etc.
I still believe that financial education – of some sort – should be required. If Phys Ed is, why not finance?
When my aunt was in 8th grade (in the 1950s), her public school taught the basics: how to balance a checkbook and how to create a simple budget. I think it's a shame that schools don't teach this stuff.
Two years ago, I took my 15 year old godchild shopping for her birthday. She desperately wanted a $70 pair of shoes from Nordstrom's. I caved in and bought them for her. When I mentioned they were expensive she quizzically said, "Is $70 a LOT of money?" I explained that she'd have to work for 11 hours at Starbuck to buy those shoes. She started laughing and said, "oh, very funny!" She thought I was JOKING.
That IS scary….
I don't disagree with you at all. Unfortunately, teaching personal finance is a touchy subject. There are several people who are so P.C. about things, teaching personal finance is deemed taboo. Plus, sorry to say this, I'm sure several public school teachers are woefully inadequate to teach personal finance themselves 🙂
The other interesting thing to note is that i think beyond education, the more systemic problem is the cultural view on credit in this country. There is and has always been the mentality of never really buying something and paying it off in full. It's always been buying stuff on credit, monthly payments,etc. We all do it at all levels. We finance homes, cars, medical, plastic surgery, furniture,etc. It's going to take something drastic before the mentality changes.
[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]
—– Sour grapes for everyone!
May 22, 2008 at 3:04 PM #210105CoronitaParticipantYes, and a certain portion of the population will also be drunks, drug addicts, murderers, adulterers, etc.
I still believe that financial education – of some sort – should be required. If Phys Ed is, why not finance?
When my aunt was in 8th grade (in the 1950s), her public school taught the basics: how to balance a checkbook and how to create a simple budget. I think it's a shame that schools don't teach this stuff.
Two years ago, I took my 15 year old godchild shopping for her birthday. She desperately wanted a $70 pair of shoes from Nordstrom's. I caved in and bought them for her. When I mentioned they were expensive she quizzically said, "Is $70 a LOT of money?" I explained that she'd have to work for 11 hours at Starbuck to buy those shoes. She started laughing and said, "oh, very funny!" She thought I was JOKING.
That IS scary….
I don't disagree with you at all. Unfortunately, teaching personal finance is a touchy subject. There are several people who are so P.C. about things, teaching personal finance is deemed taboo. Plus, sorry to say this, I'm sure several public school teachers are woefully inadequate to teach personal finance themselves 🙂
The other interesting thing to note is that i think beyond education, the more systemic problem is the cultural view on credit in this country. There is and has always been the mentality of never really buying something and paying it off in full. It's always been buying stuff on credit, monthly payments,etc. We all do it at all levels. We finance homes, cars, medical, plastic surgery, furniture,etc. It's going to take something drastic before the mentality changes.
[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]
—– Sour grapes for everyone!
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