Money Matters Part 2

In light of all that we have learned in regards to finances, we are beginning to develop a plan to teach our kiddos about this incredibly important subject that we all deal with, yet is taboo to talk about: Money.

We all have it. We all spend it. Heck, even the most frugal of us waste it from time to time.Oh, how I love my Starbucks... but I digress. We all have choices to make when it comes to money. Daily choices. It encompasses so much of our lives that it seems to make sense that we would spend a great deal of time educating our kids on how to be wise with money, right?

Think about this. I could give my child a half million dollars and they could have it spent on meaningless pursuits by Friday. Or I could give them twenty dollars and watch them do well with it. It's not about the amount of money they earn in their lives, it's about what they do with it, right?

Or, I could set them up to have an amazing education. I could save my whole life to provide them with an Ivy League education and help guide them toward high paying jobs that will guarantee they have an incredible income throughout their lives. But if they squander it, what good is that?

On the other hand, if my children never go to college (though I sincerely hope they will) and make nothing more than an average income throughout their lives, but they spend what they do earn well and use what they earn to bless others, I would consider that a much greater success.

All this to say, I'm convinced that teaching my children about good, sound, godly financial principles is an incredibly worthwhile pursuit. And, there's not a chance I'm going to put off some valuable lessons until they're 'older'.

I sincerely hope they never go into debt. I don't want them to think it's okay to spend money they don't have. Besides, I learned a very powerful biblical truth as stated in Proverbs 22:7 when we started FPU.
"The borrower is slave to the lender."
I didn't realize how enslaved I felt by my student loans until we began the processes of digging out from underneath them. I had previously been spending half of my income on paying back our student loans. That means that for 10 hours a week I was away from home and away from my family to repay a debt. The feeling I felt when we paid our last payment was priceless. FREEDOM!!!!

All that to say, I hope my children never have to feel the bondage of debt. But that starts with Rob and I teaching them sound financial principles at an early age.

One of the biggest things we realize that we can teach them is that WORK = MONEY. Nobody owes them anything, and they aren't entitled to anything they want just because they want it. If they want something extra, they need to work for it. Of course if we want them to work for it and take ownership, we also have to give them opportunities to earn money. Titus is still a bit young to get these concepts, but Leeann is picking them up eagerly.

We've started a job chart for Leeann since she turned 7. We feel like she's ready to learn some of the more complicated financial principles now. So now, she gets paid when she does a job from her job chart. I'll show it to you in Money Matters Part 3.

I feel like this is such a short description of all that it is going on in my head in regards to what I feel is an incredibly important topic. But again, this is an overview which will hopefully provide you with some insight into why we do what we do. And it will hopefully help you to understand a little more about the job chart I'm about to reveal. Have I mentioned I'm really excited about this chart? Lucky for us, Leeann is too. I have the feeling she's going to be a hard-working, wise-spending, people-blessing young lady. She's already a mini version of all of these things. I'm excited to see her continue to grow in these areas. I love that kid!