This makes me smile just a little bit. Only because everything that you say is true oh, but the fact that every single thing that you say is true. I actually hope that I wasn't the arrogant young person that I see so often. Like you, I wanted to instill values on my little people, for many different reasons. Number one is I didn't want to be supporting them for the rest of their lives, and still don't. Okay there's at least a dozen more. In actuality, it's not that difficult to save and it's never too young. I was fortunate with parents that struggled in the early part of their life and so they instilled saving and the habit of saving up for something rather than instant gratification. I have found many times that by the time I have saved up enough money for something that I really really want, I'm over it. And I can see from many people that the object of their affections, whether it be a car a boat or even clothing is not as important as it once seemed. Some of them don't even keep their cars clean. I think if you scrape and Save oh, you tend to take better care of it so it will last. These are only my fleeting thoughts. I want my kids too pay for as much as I can in cash or maybe not cash but have the cash back up because I have found points on credit cards to be very useful. I have had 7 day cruises for free over the points. Of course oh, you need to pay it off the minute you get the credit card bill. It's okay to work it to your advantage but, truly oh, the more you pay upfront the more you can save. In my poorest of times I still put money away every week or every paycheck. I like what you're teaching small steps and I think it would be nice if parenting classes were offered up to teach children these things as many parents are so irresponsible, what are the chances of them raising a child to be responsible? You are awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed all of your articles.
IIt is funny. I was just thinking about myself after reading this line and perhaps I kind of was - but I mostly raised myself from a very young age and wasn't surrounded with a lot of good role models often. Having to take responsibility young, has good sides and bad sides.
In Finland, this was the case for the "last" generation - as the now great grandparents saw war, their kids grew up very poor, but their kids (the parents today) have only known good times fo rthe most part, as they are too young to really onboard the blip of the early 90s.
This is a fabulous lesson and why credit is such a disaster for many people. They don't get a chance to lose interest, they buy the hype, the impulse. I also agree about the cars - people who appreciate what they own, care for it.
It is hard being a parent these days I think - as while we are trying to teach our kids, we are simultaneously still addicted to the things we are warning them against. Total hypocrites! :D