How do you teach your children the value of money when you are so busy stretching it from paycheck to paycheck? When I became a single mother with lots of debt and bad credit I was determined that Hailey would never find herself in the same boat.
When I was growing up we never talked about money, all we heard was that we had none. We had no idea why or where it went. I didn’t realize all the things that went into maintaining a home until I had my first apartment. Who knew you had to pay a light bill? I certainly didn’t. I made a lot of mistakes and incurred a lot of debt and I wanted something better for Hailey.
So I gave her a debit card. It was scary, I worried that I would have tons of fees that I had to pay, she would over draw the account, and I would have another bill.
Exactly the opposite happened. I loaded the account with just what she would have to spend for the month, lunch money, movie money, money for new shoes, whatever it was. I explained to her that when it was gone, it was gone. If she wasted her lunch money she would be hungry, if she didn’t buy new shoes her old ones would have to do.
It took a few a little while but suddenly my daughter was frugal. She started packing her lunch, decided she didn’t need shoes from the mall and went to the library instead of Barnes and Noble.
I think it was the best thing I could have done. I eventually put everything in there, school fees, money for school clothes, and she learned to bargain shop.
My daughter still likes nice things but now she understands what they really cost, and she is willing to forgo them.