Money As You Grow

Rhonda & I talk about everything, and when it comes to our future parenting discussions, there are no limits. The importance of money and teaching our children about it, has come up frequently. We both feel it's important and maybe something that's not discussed enough in many homes. I know for myself, I was never taught about money, the importance of it, saving it, the dangers of credit cards, etc. Together, Rhonda & I have gone down some rocky roads financially, as I know most have. Years ago, we sometimes didn't know where the next meal was going to come from simply because we had horrible spending habits. And as time went by, we did smarten up a bit, but never to the point of where we are today.

When we moved back from Texas a year ago, the plan to attempt to start a family was already in play. We didn't know how soon a baby would be on the way, but one thing was for certain, we didn't want to bring a child into our life without changing our spending habits and without paying off our debts. The goal was to buckle down, make huge sacrifices, cut our spending tremendously, live off of the "envelope system" and get to a point where all loans and credit card debt were completely gone. How soon we could do this was going to depend how strict we were going to be. It was tough. We faltered a couple of times. But no matter what, we stuck to our guns and I can proudly say that all of the hard work has paid off. The only thing we have at this point is our mortgage. No truck payment. No camper payment. No credit card debt. And I'll tell you what....it feels amazing.

Since then we've made some smart decisions as to where our extra money has gone. Some went into savings and the rest went into the development of our basement, a fence in our yard and a few other house upgrades/maintenance items that we had put on hold.

So what have we learned from this experience? First off, that being almost debt free is an amazing feeling. That if you are smart with your spending habits, you can live quite well with little money. That savings is a huge importance in life. That anything is possible if you put your mind to it. That we don't ever want to have that much financial burden in our lives. And most of all, that our past experiences have given us the means and tools to hopefully teach our children about money.

I was browsing Pinterest the other day and came across this amazing site called Money As You Grow; 20 Things Kids Need To Know To Live Financially Smart Lives.

The first thing I like about the site is that it's very simplistic and easy to use. It's direct, to the point and provides families with important lessons to teach kids about money, savings, making choices and avoiding debt. There are 5 categories for the different age groups and when you click on each, it shows you what you can teach your child at that age and gives you a variety of activities to do surrounding money.

If at all possible, we don't want our kids to struggle with debt all of, or most of, their life. And I know that nobody wants that for their kids. I know our parents didn't want that for us. So if we can teach, encourage and set a good example in the way of finances and how we handle our own while our kids are growing up, maybe they will not make as many mistakes as we did. That's the hope anyway.

I've been reading about a family who practices being debt free and has lived this way for over 20 years. They chose to pay off the debt they had (including mortgage) early on in their marriage and from then on they never made a purchase unless they had the cash in hand to pay for it. This includes all of the vehicles they've had over the years as well as the huge house they built. They have also taught their children this way of life and their oldest son and his wife have chosen to live the same way. What an amazing thing to strive for and an even amazing thing to teach your children. Let this be a lesson to all of us.

So the question is, have you prepared your children for their financial future?