How one reader’s parents helped her grow up financially with important money lessons
Teaching kids about money and how to be financially responsible doesn’t have to come as a sit-down family conversation. Sometimes the best ways to prepare your kids to be financial adults is with the little money tricks you teach them.
These money tricks can be as simple as how to budget for savings or how to automate a monthly deposit into an investing account.
Today’s scholarship essay is by Nicole Marquez, a student at Estrella Mountain Community College. She shares how her parents taught her money tricks for saving and spending that helped her grow up financially responsible.
Check out Nicole’s story and please share on social media. The most-shared essay on how parents can teach their kids about money will win one of our two $500 personal finance scholarships, announced August 31st!
Not sure how to teach your kids money tricks or good financial habits? You’re not alone. It’s not something that’s taught in schools and few of us were ever taught by our parents.
Check out Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness. A New York Times best-seller with more than four million copies sold.
How My Parents Taught Me to Grow Up
When I turned 16, I immediately looked for a job. I was so excited to start working so I could go out with my friends, buy pizza every night, and buy every new eyeshadow palette. Oh, how my hopes and dreams were crushed when I was faced with the reality of saving.
When I first told my parents that I was looking for a job their response was, “That’s great! You can get a jumpstart on saving for college, you’re so responsible.”
At first I laughed and remarked, “No! This money is for me to spend!” When I finally got hired at a pizza place, my mom and I went to the bank to set up a checking and saving account. One condition was that I would deposit twenty-five dollars every other Monday after payday into savings.
My Money Discipline Starts Paying Off
Slowly, but surely, I saw my savings account grow and grow and suddenly after working at my job for six months I decided to start saving fifty dollars from every paycheck. My parents would encourage me to save whatever I had left from my paycheck before I got paid again.
A year and a half later, I had over a thousand saved up for college and was able to finance a car all on my own. None of this would have been possible if my parents never made me start saving for my future and I thank them for that.
I would be lying if there were some checks I didn’t save, or sometimes I would transfer money out of my savings account. knowing that I could potentially damage my future has stopped me from such a bad habit. I have learned to be cautious with my money and how to save, pay for my phone, car, insurance, and still be able to afford to eat only making $10.25 an hour.
Don’t Forget to Pay Yourself
One tip that I have stuck by, that my father taught me, was to give myself $15 dollars every day. That meant I could buy lunch every day and still save a decent amount from my check.
Growing up my parents taught me to treat yourself, but only where it’s due. That means every once in a while, I can buy something for myself, but I need to keep in mind how much it costs and if it’s worth it. One trick they taught me was to ‘sleep on it’ before any big purchases. If you still want it a week later, then go ahead and buy it.
All these little tips and tricks that my parents taught me have really helped me grow up. I am proud to say that I am the only one out of my friends who can afford a brand-new car, working minimum wage. I am proud to say that I know how to support myself at such a young age. I am proud to say that I have great parents who taught me how to manage my money, and I know that these lessons will stick with me through life.
I want to thank Nicole for her story about the money tricks her parents taught and how she grew up financially responsible. Be sure to support Nicole by sharing the article through social media and check in August for the winner of the personal finance scholarship.