Lexie wrote: FrankN. We must have done something right. She now has a family of her own and they are doing very well. They are debt free except for their house and have learned to manage their money very well. I am so proud of them!!!!!

That is so awesome to hear! I bet you are so so proud! I hope the younger generation can learn like that as well.

FrankN. We must have done something right. She now has a family of her own and they are doing very well. They are debt free except for their house and have learned to manage their money very well. I am so proud of them!!!!!

My daughter is only seven, so she hasn't started shopping for herself yet, but I have been trying to teach her about making choices. We were in a store the other day and I told her she could get something. She wanted a ball AND a coloring book, but I told her no way. She's just beginning to grasp that she can't walk into a store and treat it like a free shopping spree. I've never caved in to all of her wants, so I'm not sure where that shopping spree thought process comes from. I guess it's a kid thing until they understand that everything has a price.

Lexie, that sounds like a good idea. That's one reason why I gave mine a slightly higher allowance but made them buy some of their own things, like clothes, socks, etc. There were a few tough months upfront while they discovered that socks without holes were more important than the latest game, but I think they've got a good idea of how to manage money now.

LEXIE, I am sure we learned a very very valuable lesson that day! That will hopefully pay her dividends down the road.

I took it one step further with my daughter and money management. She was so used to shopping and having me pay for everything that she had no idea how much things were. She received money for her birthday one year and I took her shopping making her use her own money. That was the longest shopping trip of my life. LOL! She realized she couldn't have everything she wanted and the choices were hard. She learned a valuable lesson that day.

I could not agree more. There are some schools that offer this, but it doesn't seem mandatory. There are also afterschool programs like Junior Achievement, but in my opinion it is not enough.

I definitely think money management should be taught in schools. It is one thing that people need to know for later life and it doesn't seem to be on the curriculum anywhere, even under maths. If people could see how much interest they are racking up, it would probably cut the use of credit cards.

I definitely think this should be taught in schools, especially in this day and age when no one uses cash anymore. Kids see their parents swiping cards and it makes it look so easy. They no longer see the transaction of handing the cashier a $20 and getting $1 back.

We learned the hard way with credit cards and ended up in bankruptcy. That was years ago and since then we have become very responsible when it comes to credit cards. They are always paid off at the end of the month and they are only used for convenience. I think this kind of responsibility should be taught in schools. Don't you?

That's exactly right, Cents. I can say that we have definitely been doing a lot better over the past few years, with this year really being the best. We haven't had to use any of our credit cards at all this year and we are hoping to continue this trend since we are finally starting to get things paid down.

Breakinger wrote: I have been in this situation, especially when the recession hit. It seemed like everything went downhill from there. We were short on cash to pay for gas and groceries some months. Now it's really starting to catch up with us and we are finally starting to pay off some of those purchases.

I think a lot of people found themselves in this situation and I can understand using credit cards when you have no other choice. When you're in a situation like that, it's scary to think about what would have happened if you didn't have the credit cards.

I have been in this situation, especially when the recession hit. It seemed like everything went downhill from there. We were short on cash to pay for gas and groceries some months. Now it's really starting to catch up with us and we are finally starting to pay off some of those purchases.

DonRon wrote: We have a strict policy about credit card usage in our house. It has to be an absolute necessity in order to justify charging it. Putting gas in the car to get to work, buying food to put dinner on the table, or buying something like diapers or formula for our kids. Unless we literally can't survive without it, we don't charge it to our credit card.

That's interesting, as it could be said that buying necessities with your credit card because you have no other means of paying is the start of a slippery slope towards debt you could struggle to repay. If you meant in an emergency situation like having no cash or debit card on you, or at the end of a month with unexpected expenses then yes, I can see the reasoning.

We have a strict policy about credit card usage in our house. It has to be an absolute necessity in order to justify charging it. Putting gas in the car to get to work, buying food to put dinner on the table, or buying something like diapers or formula for our kids. Unless we literally can't survive without it, we don't charge it to our credit card.