My good friend, Laurie, also known as The Frugal Farmer, wrote a short e-book on how she and her husband are teaching their kids about money. As you know, this is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I finally got a chance to read my copy, and I’m happy to report that it is full of great information.
If you are unfamiliar with Laurie, she and her family decided to confront their growing debt head-on and made the commitment to eliminate it forever in January 2013. This was no small undertaking, and I am very proud of how far they have come in their journey. They have made so many positive changes, and one I must point out is their decision to talk to their kids about money, specifically their debt.
Laurie and Rick were taking this seriously, which meant the changes they planned to implement would affect their children. They cemented their plan first, then sat down and talked to their kids. I invited Laurie a few weeks ago to give us the inside track on her debt conversation and the outcome with us. It’s a great read for those who need to have this conversation with their children but don’t know where to start.
We teach our kids many of the same lessons, including money is earned, setting goals, being entrepreneurial, etc. What I appreciate most is that Laurie makes it simple—because it is simple. We tend to make simple things hard because we have this mistaken perception that things must be hard in order to be effective. This is definitely not one of those situations.
One lesson that stood out in particular to me was their decision to loan their daughter, Maddie, some money for a highly coveted pink compound bow. She quickly learned how much she hated having half of her allowance go to the bank of Mom and Dad to repay the loan and interest for eight long months. Today, Maddie is your typical teenage girl, which means she wants lots of stuff. When Mom and Dad offer to loan her money, she quickly responds with a “no way”. She has seen firsthand the cost of debt and recognized that debt isn’t something you should enter into lightly. Love it!
Money is unfortunately a topic that is not on many parents radar and one we need to make a priority. We all make decisions every day with our money and our children need to learn how to good decisions now and in the future with their money. Laurie’s book is an excellent place for you and your kids to begin your journey and at $4.99 it’s also an expensive start.
The Heavy Purse Store is now open! My new downloadable Money Club Workbooks are now on sale. Each workbook provides five targeted lessons to help you raise Financially Confident Kids. Please check them out in The Heavy Purse Store.
SHANNON RYAN, CFP®
I learned a few things only a year ago and already my finances have turned around tremendously.