When you’re young, life is so much easier, isn’t it? Sure, you have to deal with parents, and your friends can change from day to day.
But each day is its own day. Most problems don’t carry over to the next day. You don’t have to worry about the future. Because today is more important.
There are lots of lessons we can learn from kids.
Some of them are easy to incorporate into our adult live. And some of them aren’t. But we can still learn a lot by watching children, whether they are our own, or they belong to a friend or neighbor. If we could turn back the clock…well, that’s not possible. So let’s focus on what we CAN learn from young people.
I like talking with my 8-year old son about money. His outlook on money is so simple. If you have it you can spend it, if you don’t then you can’t. Thank goodness they don’t make credit cards for kids, or that would ruin all the fun – and take away the lessons we as adults can learn from kids about money.
Every once in a while you’ll see an article about the money lessons adults should teach their kids. But rarely do you see similar articles explaining what we can learn from them. So here are 5 lessons about money that I learned from watching and listening to my 8 year old son:
- Buy only when you enough money in your piggy bank.
It doesn’t get any better than this. What a great lesson! Sometimes I’ll tell my son “we’ll give you some money towards that toy you want” and he looks at me strange. Not that he doesn’t appreciate my offer, but he wants to buy it with his own money, not mine. Hopefully he’ll remember these moments when he gets older, and wants to buy a $1,500 3D-TV or something like that. - Save for the fun things you really want.
Big or small, expensive or cheap. If you really want it, then save up for it. Fortunately, he won’t spend his money on junk. He only spends it on the things he wants, and will take as long as needed to save enough money to buy it. What discipline! How many people do you know that do this? In this world of instant credit, many people don’t care about saving up for something they can buy with credit – especially if they get no interest for 3 years. - If you need more money, find a way to earn it.
The kid never asks to borrow money. But he’ll ask if there are any jobs around the house that he can do. Not just to earn money, but to earn money for something specific he wants to buy. He’ll even ask grandma and grandpa if they have any jobs for him (of course, they’ll just give him money because he’s cute, but that’s another story!) Or he’ll open a “candy store” or “toy store” in the house and try to sell those items he doesn’t want. He’ll even ask us to send out emails to our family and friends. There’s definitely a future for him selling stuff on Craigslist. - Find ways to have fun without spending money.
The message here – you don’t need to spend money to have fun. Sure, most of what adults do involves money in some way. But there are lots of ways to have fun and still not spend a lot. Go to a local carnival or fair instead of the amusement park. Go out for ice cream instead of an entire dinner. Buy used instead of new. Or don’t buy at all until you have the money (see #2 above!). Have family movie night or game night at home instead of going out to the theater. Be creative (just being creative can be fun!). - Saving is fun, especially when you can see the money.
Set up a separate savings account just for big purchases, then post your statements up on the fridge so you can see them. Or just use a sticky note or erasable message board so you can update your savings. And make sure to write down what you are saving for. If you have a family, this is a great way to get everyone involved if it is a purchase that everyone can enjoy, like a big screen TV or family vacation.
What money lessons have you learned from a child? If you’re not sure, make sure to take a few minutes next time you are around kids and see how they handle money – in a restaurant, store, or just hanging out.
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