How to Help Your Kids Understand the Family Financial Budget

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

How to Help Your Kids Understand the Family Financial Budget

Very few children know the value of money.  They see that their friends have the latest electronic gadgets, designer clothing or fashionable jewelry and they want it too.  They have no idea how much those items cost or whether or not Mom and Dad can afford them.  If you’ve ever wondered how to help your kids understand the family financial budget, the following tips might help.

As soon as children are old enough, tell them how much you earn and show them what kind of bills have to be paid on a monthly basis.  Talk to them about the mortgage/rent, the hydro bill, phone bill, credit card and anything else that needs paying.  Write all payments down, add them up and deduct them off your income.  Seeing how much is left will make them understand what a family budget is.

Let children accompany you on grocery shopping trips and let them see the bill.  While shopping, individually priced items may not make much of an impression on them, but seeing it added up might open their eyes just how expensive groceries are.  If you are paying with a credit card, show them the statement at the end of the month.  For a lot of children a credit card is a magical card that pays bills, but they don’t take into account that that card has to be paid too.

Teach your children about shopping around and practice what you preach.  The next time you need shoes, a sweater or washing liquid, take the kids along and show them that shopping around might help them save a significant amount of dollars. When they see how much you save by visiting more than one store, chances are they will do the same.

Introduce your children to earning their own money.  Don’t just give them an allowance, but give them tasks to do and pay them accordingly.  They will soon find out that it takes time and effort to get a particular sum together.  If you want them to learn the value of money, let them get a part-time job when they are old enough.  Nothing teaches kids more effectively about money than having to work for it.

It might also be a good idea to let them have their own savings account.  Not just a piggy bank in which they save a few coins, but a proper bank account that pays them interest and with which they can see their savings grow.  With a growing savings account they might prefer to put money aside instead of spending it.

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Day 54: Did I become a millionaire

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 54: Did I become a millionaire

Last Friday I made the bold statement ‘I’m gonna be a millionaire’ and I’ll bet some of you are wondering if I indeed won the lottery.

I must say, I had every reason to be hopeful, there had been signs of good fortune to come and when I received an email from the lottery commission saying ‘You are a winner’ I thought ... this is it.

When I checked my account my hopes and dreams were once again smashed to smithereens. No penthouse condo, no Lamborghini in the garage, no giant diamond on my finger, not able to help those in desperate need.

I had indeed won, but not nearly as much as I had hoped for. I had won $40 and a free ticket. Okay, not enough for Dieter and me to quit our jobs, but enough for four weeks of free play. Better than nothing, right?

Maybe it’s for the best that I didn’t win. Would I survive winning millions of dollars?

Many years ago I bought a family magazine every week. At one time the magazine ran a competition. Inside the magazine was a number followed by two letters, for instance, 277 AB. Week after week I checked the provided sticker but I was never the lucky one.

And then one week it happened. I checked my sticker, 934 TN and the winning number was 934 TM. Holy shit, I screamed like I had seen a monster and started jumping up and down.

Alerted by the noise, my then-husband came running into the living room to see what was doing on. “We won! We won!” I kept repeating. He grabbed the magazine, checked the sticker and ... “Hold on a second,” he said. “You didn’t win. The winning number is 934 TM and your sticker number is 934 TN.” 

Oh, the disappointment of it. 

The thing is though, in that competition the winning amount was 1,000 Rand ($87,25). If I had such a reaction to $87,25 can you imagine what I would be like if I found out I had won millions? I'm liable to give myself a heart attack and drop dead on the spot. 

Still, I'll take the chance and play again next Friday. One day (hopefully soon) I will get it right, right?

If the rich were forced to share, how many would benefit?

As a rule, I avoid social media like Facebook, Twitter, and others for the simple reason that some of those posts annoy me. But every now and then I still get confronted with articles or news headlines and they do more than annoy me, they make me bloody angry.

First, there was the news that America’s First Lady bought a $51,000 jacket. In my opinion, it’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen and they Dolce & Gabbana would have to pay me $51,000 to wear it, but that’s beside the point. The point it, how can anyone spend that kind of money on a jacket they will wear only once?

If it was up to me, I would enforce a rule that if people spent that kind of money on frivolities, they should be forced to donate an equal amount of money to a worthy cause. For a lot of people, $51,000 is equal to five years or more of rent. So why not give five hard-working families $10,000 each? Or ten families $5,000. Not folks who receive welfare, but people with jobs who genuinely do their best but still find it hard to make ends meet.

A few days later another outrages purchase caused me more aggravation. This time it was David Beckham who bought his wife a $379,261 purse.

Now wouldn’t it have been nice if Beckham would have been forced to donate an equal amount of money to the victims and families of the recent London terror attacks? That would have been money well spent.

Another worthy cause would have been to donate $379,261 to various animal shelters to supply food and medical services (such as spaying and neutering) to cats, dogs, etc.?

Or his money could have helped quite a few people who needed help with their mortgage. Or a particular city could have used the funds to subsidize public transportation.

And this is just the beginning. Middle Eastern sheiks buy diamond encrusted cars and paintings for hundreds of millions of dollars. They should be forced to help others with an equal amount. Not only would this help out deserving families, but they might think twice before flaunting their wealth.

If the rich were forced to share, just how many would benefit?

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