Money Talk

“Don’t hold your bucket where your hand can’t reach”.

This is a saying that my late Grandmother passed on to her children and one that my Dad passed on to me.

What does it really mean? To me it means don’t purchase things you can’t afford.

Sounds like an easy concept but can be hard to follow if someone doesn’t take the time to teach you about the value of money.

I was never given an allowance as a child. Anytime I needed or wanted something, I always asked my parents for money. Sometimes they would fork it over and sometimes they didn’t.

I got my first job when I was 16.  What a relief that was. I spent my money how I wanted without being asked any questions.

Once I started College, I signed up for 2-3 credit cards. When my Mom found out, the only thing she told me was to make sure I had enough money to pay off the balance at the end of the month.

I promised I would but soon feel into the trap of maxing out all of my credit cards because I viewed it as “free money”.

I spent all of my 20’s and early 30’s in debt. I believe this could have been avoided if my parents had taken the time to teach me about money. 

This is something that every parent should teach their child. It’s definitely something I plan on doing.

Starting a conversation about money doesn’t have to be hard. Take your child on a trip to the bank. Open up a savings account for them. Take them to the store to help purchase groceries. Play a game of Monopoly. Give your child an allowance.

Most importantly, parents need to teach children the difference between needs vs. wants.

When a child receives money – whether it’s from an allowance or receiving birthday money - I believe it should be divided into three categories. If you attend church like me, 10% should automatically be set aside for tithes, another 10% set aside for savings and the remainder set aside for spending. 

Even if parents teach their children about money at an early age, it’s no guarantee they will continue with these habits but it’s definitely worth the try.

While I don’t blame my parents for my financial mistakes, I do believe that if they had taken the time to teach me about money when I was younger, I would have been better off financially today.

Did your parents talk to you about money? If so, what lessons did you take from those conversations?

Feel free to share this post on your favourite Social Media Networks.

When you get a chance, please visit my friend Tyrone’s blog. His posts are insightful and very thought provoking. See his blog here.

Thanks for reading and keep smiling :) 

Where are the neighbourhood kids?

Growing up, my parents had to constantly turn away young boys who came knocking on our door to shovel the snow or rake the leaves.

Every Summer, someone on our street was always selling lemonade.

When I was old enough, I used to babysit a couple of kids on my street.

Our neighbourhood was full of children competing against each other to make an extra buck. 

Today, that’s unheard of.

What happened?

 Is it that parents give their children too much of an allowance? Or maybe children don’t see the need to work because their parents hand them everything on a silver platter. Or it could be that parents hire others to do what they could have their children do for free.

In the nine and a half years that I’ve lived in Ajax, I’ve come across two children who were serious about making some extra money.

The first was a four or five year old girl on my street. As I was coming home one afternoon, I noticed that this little girl had a lemonade stand and a sweet table set up on her parents drive way. I went over and bought some lemonade. I don’t recall what she was saving for or if she was just doing this for fun.

This weekend, a young boy was passing my house with a weed remover looking for work. I hired him to pluck up those annoying dandelions on my front lawn. He worked for about half an hour and walked away with $15.

I am extremely proud of these two children for taking the initiative to earn some pocket money. They are definitely entrepreneurs in the making. Who knows, maybe their peers will soon follow in their footsteps.

Children need to be taught from an early age that they need to work for what they want. I’m so thankful that my parents never gave my siblings and I everything we asked for. They taught us to work for what we wanted and how to save for what we wanted.  

What did you do as a kid to earn some extra money?

Feel free to share this post on your favourite Social Media Networks.

When you get a chance, please visit my friend Tyrone’s blog. His posts are insightful and very thought provoking. See his blog here.

Thanks for reading and keep smiling :)   

Mine, Yours and Ours

When you get married, you become one with your spouse. What’s his is hers. What’s hers is his. Does that also include your finances? 

I was all for having just a joint account when I first got married. Everything was going well until I realized I had married a spender.  It seemed like every week he was buying another computer monitor or buying new equipment for our home gym.

The only time it would bother me is when I would ask if I could spend a few dollars on myself. The answer was always “no” because “we” had just purchased that brand new computer monitor or new equipment for our home gym.

Towards the end of our marriage, I got smart. I opened up a personal account. Whatever bills I was responsible for, I made sure I transferred enough money into our joint account and kept the rest for myself to spend on whatever I wanted.

I remember talking to one of my Aunts about the situation. She told me that her and her husband never pooled all of their money together. “He doesn’t need to know about every new dress I buy” is what she said at the end of our conversation.

I agree.

I think every couple should have one joint account for the bills and two separate accounts for personal spending. This will force the spender in the relationship to be mindful of what they’re spending their money on and to teach them some money management skills.

What’s your take on couples that only have a joint account vs. those who have a joint and separate accounts?

Feel free to share this post on your favourite Social Media Networks.

When you get a chance, please visit my friend Tyrone’s blog. His posts are insightful and very thought provoking. See his blog here.

Thanks for reading and keep smiling :)

Ten Million Dollars

Remember the song “If I had a million dollars” by the Barenaked Ladies? How many times did you dream and make lists of what you would do with that kind of money?

Today, a million dollars is nothing but peanuts but what about ten million? Still not a whole lot but take a few minutes to imagine what you would do if someone gave you that kind of money.

Creating my list wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be but here it is:

1) Pay my tithes and make a substantial donation towards my church's new building.

2) Pay off all of my debt.

3) Put money aside for my retirement.

4) Put money aside for my children’s education.

5) Pay off my parent’s mortgages and any debt they may have.

6) Move into a brand new house with an oversized kitchen and backyard.

7) I would open my own music school and bakery – Chapters and Starbucks style.

8) Take a vacation for a year. I would spend two months each in Italy, Spain, Paris, Australia, India and South Africa.

9) Send my parents and siblings on a vacation of their choice.

10) Invest what’s left.

What would you do if someone gave you ten million dollars?

Feel free to share this post on your favourite Social Media Networks.

Thanks for reading and keep smiling :)