I was also the geeky kind to track my savings and spending when I got my first job around age 14 (filing invoices for my aunt’s business). Another factor in my saving and working ethic was my parents’ divorce. As my mother went back to work after nearly 15 years, I decided that I did not want to be anymore of a burden than I had to be and continue that attitude. Because of my habits I was able to buy a car at age 18. I was shy of buying it outright by about $1000 dollars and then some after taxes, etc and so had to take out a loan which i paid off in half the time it was taken out for.

I continue to save and track my spending (and yes i may have a little OCD as my boyfriend says) and I do contribute it to my parents. I was forced to grow up, but mainly because I was ready and saw how my parent’s always struggled and fought about money. I decided that I never wanted to be in that position whether on my own or in a relatioship. My sister’s, who are younger, on the other hand, were too young to benefit from what the divorce forced me to do, but they are both money hoarders. Unlike myself, who bought things like clothes and a car on my own as a teen, they just ask mom for money and save all of their own. But i guess they have the savings mind-set as well!

Don’t suppose you’d be interested in adopting an er…older kid?

Wow. Kudos. Be interested in hearing more about that philosophy.

Cheers!

I think it’s important for kids to be smart consumers, and to have realistic expectations.

This is all due to my parents who taught me that I do not need stuff (or at least not stuff that I can’t get 75% off). This is among the best gift my parents gave me. Certainly it is a little of a downfall as well since I do tend to be overly concerned with how my husband and I are spending, but I can say that I will certainly be teaching my children to be wise savers and spenders. I only hope that I do as well as my parents did and provide my children with a strong foundation.

It was just one of many factors that me financially responsible at a pretty young age, but the fact that I still remember it tells me that it had a big impact on me.

Now that he is older and has an allowance & money for odd jobs I helped him to plan more on his long term goals, sometimes offering the I’ll match what you save model.
He makes lists of what he wants…a baseball glove, his own computer, and now he too wants to save for a car!

He looked online to see what low priced used cars cost, figured how many months he had to save & calculated the amount to save per month. He has over $500 saved already, with almost 6 yrs to go!

I wish I had learned that kind of money management when I was young!

It took me years to learn all this and I made tons of mistakes along the way due to my ignorance. It’s my hope that my kids can avoid these mistakes and start out much further along in the process!

I’m 19 years old, have a good chunk of change in a savings account, and was thinking of opening an RRSP. Even just opening it, and putting 1000$ and leaving it until I’m done school.
How young is too young to think about retirement? Like I said, I haven’t even gone to college yet…

She was even more mortified when I explained that on the contrary, we were paying for her to go.

Kids can be smart about money if financial responsibility is modeled as the better way to live.

I loved watching the total grow in my passbook as I made deposits of birthday money, babysitting, etc. to my savings account my parents started. I bought a car for cash when I was 16 (and every car since, too). Passbooks are a thing of the past, but now kids can watch their accounts online with a little help from mom or dad. As my four year old neice can play computer games with help from her parents, I’m sure she’s also capable of learning about the time value of money as she and her savings grow. Even kids not naturally inclined to save (my nephew is the saver, my neice likes to own stuff) will learn the value of saving if their parents help.

When I got older, I would save my allowance and my birthday money in a shoebox taped shut, with its own little book where I recorded how much I was actually saving. At 12 my parents finally helped me open a bank account. How exciting it was to actually earn interest!

Back then, I would hardly buy anything unless I really needed it, because I knew how much work it was to actually earn that money in the first place. 10 years later, and it’s not much different.

One of my friends took his lucky money fund and put it towards his first house. I think he’d been saving since he was 8 for a house.

BTW, we both had at least four digits of money stashed away in the bank just from cash gifts over the years. And come to think of it, I’ve reaped the benefits of my schooling a lot more than I would have a new video game in my teens. There’s still a bit of money left in that account and someday soon, I’ll start saving a bit harder to put away some more for a rainy day.

I think it is more important to teach my kids to work and save for something or goal they want; delayed gratification. Simpy saving monrey for savings sake is just pointless.

These kids are great.

for most of my childhood, i was fixated on the idea of becoming an independent woman- and though i barely had a grasp of what college was about (nobody else in my family did, either), i told myself that was the path to take.

i paid all but $5k of my college expenses in cash, but i would have had far more saved had i not left home early.

these 8 years are what i’ve been working toward my whole life, i just realized… wow.

Over the years, the kids helped me paint old furniture and otherwise refurbish things to create their space when they were with us. This side of the family has been always frank about having money and not. When we’re broke we eat hotdogs at home; when we’re not, we eat at Coney’s Nathan’s.

But that’s how she got the idea that there wouldn’t be a “sweet-16″ car in her future, like many of her friends. She “knew” the only way to get what she wanted when she wanted, was to help herself. Presents (generous grandparents), odd jobs, etc. all went into the kitty. She’s like that in a lot of areas of personality–a go-getter. I’m proud of that kid and tell her often.

He older brother, adorable creative one that he is, got his learners and on the way home asked…so, what kind of car am I getting? (His mom was flabbergasted.) He didn’t care about “cool,” just wheels; and, anything was fine–even the 10-year-old family car. But he shares everything with anyone at anytime–which is a big factor in why he’s often broke–unlike his sister who has to be rationalized into sharing anything (even french fries) willingly.

You have to help kids decide what is important to them, make sure they understand the possible consequences of their choices (which is what, in my experience and opinion, most families omit), actually let them test out their choices, and show them how to make modifications along the way.

Just like the rest of us. Kids are but younger humans after all. No separate rules of physics apply.

Caleb
http://www.mefinanciallyfree.blogspot.com

Oh well.

Thanks,
Bill