I’m curious about what young people are being taught about money. Is anyone teaching you how to earn it and how to manage it once you get some?
Money was a constant struggle for me when I was growing up. Mostly, I didn’t have any. What I needed for school activities I sometimes had to swipe from my grandmother before she used it all to buy alcohol. When I got to college I was often just as broke but at least had work study on campus. It was in graduate school that my education, the hard way, began. I had a nice apartment and car but a very small graduate fellowship. Therefore, I lived on loans and credit cards. Not once had anyone told me that I needed to live within a budget! I met the man who was to become my husband and we doubled the debt. He hadn’t been taught any more than I about how to manage finances. It seems obvious but I learned a couple of things. First, if you buy something with a credit card, the company eventually expects you to pay. Second, you will never get out of debt by paying the minimum on credit cards and continuing to use them. It took bankruptcy and years of being treated like a criminal to fully understand that. Naturally, when I had children money was at the top of my list of subjects to teach. So, why does it sometimes seem as if [young] people have to learn the lessons the hard way instead of listening to wise counsel? Must we always touch the hot stove for ourselves to see if what we are told is really true?
Tell me where you are regarding money. Are you learning the hard way or are you listening to what is being taught?
