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Three Things Thursday: How to Talk to Your Kids About the Recession or Hard Times
Tips like these helped us pay off $127K in debt. You can read our story in Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.
So last year, when the bottom fell out of the economy, the news was all a flutter with how catastrophic things were. There was plenty of talk about how things were bad on Wall Street and they were bad on Main Street, too. Ominous for any person to hear, even more intense for a kid to hear, worse yet for a kid who lives. on. Main. Street. The Eldest Princess was scared out of her wits! When someone says, “There’s trouble on Main Street” on the National News and you’re six years old, you look out the window and wonder where the boogie man is and how he’s going to attack. It was a quick and easy fix to talk to the Eldest Princess about what really was going on and how we were prepared to deal with the situation. All of us need to talk to our kids about money, whether we’re facing trouble or not. Here are some of the tips we’ve tried to abide by when talking about money with the Eldest Princess. Most of the Youngest Princess’ instructions about money revolve around not eating it.
1) DON’T talk in hushed tones and whispers about your financial situation. Remember the monster under your bed when you were a kid? What’s imagined is always worse than reality. If you spend your time discussing your finances through clinched teeth and stressed glances (with your spouse or others on the phone), your child is going to imagine the situation to be MUCH worse than it actually is. Never lie. But, don’t feel the need to give a complex explanation. Use age appropriate language and illustrations (no need to talk specific numbers because often a car costs the same amount as a candy bar in a kid’s mind and no need for charts and graphs). Reassure your child of how much you love your spouse and love them and no matter what, you’ll stick together as a family during this time.
2) DO encourage your child to a part of the solution. Say things like, “We’ve decided to be more intentional about how we spend our money. What are some ways you think we can save money?” Rethink ways that you can spend time and not money when you’re together as a family. You might be surprised that your child’s favorite things to do together as a family have nothing to do with money at all. Brainstorm ways as a family that you can do things without spending anything. Always help your family realize that there are MANY people who go without the things we take for granted. For instance, did you know that 1 Billion of the 6 Billion people on the planet live on less than 1 American Dollar a day? Another 2 Billion live on less than 2 American Dollars a day. I don’t know about you but I throw away a dollar pretty quickly on items I may or may not need. Don’t feel guilty for blessings, but realize they are just that. We have so much to be thankful for!
3) Celebrate milestones. After 18 months, on our debt slaying adventure, we’ve got two remaining debts (besides our mortgage). One is a credit card which is just beyond our grasp and Lordwilling in a few months we’ll have it paid. Our other remaining debt is ALL student loan stuff and it’s HEFTY. We’ve decided that after we pay off the credit card, we’re taking a short trip (a pretty big deal since we don’t vacation and every extra penny is devoted to paying off debt) to a nearby indoor water park. And after the biggest badboy is bye bye, we’re going to Disney World, baby. The Eldest Princess is very aware of the plans for celebration. And so when she’s tempted to ask for something, she harkens back to the plan and is known to comment, “You know if I get that it will take us longer to get out of debt and go to (said water park). I think I’ll put it back.” It is amazing how kids can really learn delayed gratification and there are greater lessons being taught in the moment.
Hope that these tips help you talk to your kids about any financial troubles that you may face now or later down the road. As always, the Queen of Free reminds you that the most important thing you can spend on a child is time, not money.
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This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!
I love your blog on this topic. I agree, kids should be aware and know what is going on so they make learn to make the good choices and don’t end up where we (the parent) are today, in debt up to our eyeballs. I am happy to say, I am debt free with the exception of car and mortgage payments. It feels good! I wish you luck on your last 2 goals. Congrats on what you have already accomplished!
Why thank you so much. I feel its important to realize that kiddos soak up SO much of what we say, do, and even feel. Better to confront things head on than to have them imagine something much worse or that it’s their fault!
We’re all about about “changing our family tree” as Dave Ramsey would say. I definitely pray that our daughters abide by the principles we’re practicing.
Congrats on your debt slaying journey! Soon and very soon you’ll be free, too.