What I really wanted to title my column was, “Smoothies for everyone!” However thought it might make a little more sense to explain that statement.
It’s interesting to watch the difference in our children’s frame of mind when it comes to spending their money versus our money. While our oldest is pretty much “off the payroll” having graduated from college, we still have two in college and one in high school. And then I remember that the oldest is probably headed to graduate school, it never ends.
We have tried hard as parents to teach our children about money management, and for the most part they do a fairly good job both saving money, and with earning it. But every once in a while…
Recently we had a situation where our youngest learned a valuable lesson about just throwing our debit card around. The gym he is doing speed training at for football keeps our card on file so that we don’t have to always come in to pay for sessions. It was all good until we got an alert on our card about “charges.”
My husband, who manages the family budget down to the penny, was not happy. An alert meant somebody was spending money and of course he came after yours truly. For once I could honestly answer, it wasn’t me!
When we logged into our account, we saw a lot of extra $5 charges all to the same place. Number four child, you better have some good answers here.
“I bought a smoothie and treated some of my friends a few times. No big deal,” was his simple reply. The problem our son did not see was that first and foremost, getting to train at the gym was a privilege and there are rules with getting to continue this activity. While $5 may not seem like much, adding 5 more, and 5 more quickly began to add up. Thus where the opening line “Smoothies for everyone” comes in to play.
Our question: “Would you have charged, and kept charging if using your own debit card?” Big fat no was the answer.
Have to say I am shocked at the number of my friends who give the children their debit card to go out to eat or go shopping. It’s easy to loose track of how much you spend and if you don’t have a “limit,” things can quickly get out of hand. I know with my own self, if I have cash in hand it really makes me think before spending. And, I’ve learned to carefully monitor my online banking.
Each of our children has an account and a savings. I’m authorized to oversee their accounts and it is especially helpful with my college students. What surprises me the most is that while mom and dad are usually home cooking our meals, packing lunches and limiting our expenses for eating out; our children are not eating at home.
It’s fun to play the “Mama, I don’t have any money” game when I know exactly what they’ve been doing or eating.
Maybe some of you have had this experience, or if you have younger ones, this may give you some ideas on talking and teaching your own children about money.
More Jodi in the Bubble
